Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,389 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 8,795 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.11% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $25,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,934 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,781,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 369.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 5,168 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 4,066 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 248.3% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.6% in the third quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 5,802 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WST traded down $16.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $203.00. The stock had a trading volume of 988,349 shares, compared to its average volume of 673,536. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $251.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.99. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $396.75. The company has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.