West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $332.50.

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of WST stock traded down $0.99 on Friday, hitting $224.81. The stock had a trading volume of 486,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50 day moving average is $270.58 and its 200-day moving average is $299.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,379,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

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.