Brokerages Set West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Target Price at $332.50

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 covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $332.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on WST. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 138.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 136 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WST traded down $7.35 on Thursday, hitting $201.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,684,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,425. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $219.89 and a 200-day moving average of $286.61. The company has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $394.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders 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 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

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.