Van ECK Associates Corp Has $225.85 Million Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.95% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $225,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WST. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 171,644 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $56,224,000 after acquiring an additional 20,427 shares during the period. Tobam lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 4,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded up $15.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $214.84. 5,020,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 424,824. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $327.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.92. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $739.59 million. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.