Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,105 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,024 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,105 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.07% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $15,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 468,120 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $153,337,000 after buying an additional 19,936 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 571 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 65.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,111 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 5,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,865,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock traded up $6.60 on Friday, hitting $230.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,027,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 621,698. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock's 50 day moving average is $285.15 and its 200-day moving average is $303.21. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. The company has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WST. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp decreased 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 report on Friday, February 14th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $344.00.

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.