West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by State of Tennessee Department of Treasury

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury trimmed its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,338 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 6,784 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned 0.05% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $11,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at $1,536,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,794,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,750,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 100,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $30,103,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:WST traded up $3.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $214.56. 905,920 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 719,559. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $372.79. The firm's 50 day moving average is $217.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $283.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.19%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.