West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $437.75.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. UBS Group raised 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $332.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 404,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,851. West Pharmaceutical Services has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $324.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.36, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WST. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $68,854,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $133,271,000 after buying an additional 101,710 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 397,152 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $119,209,000 after buying an additional 98,564 shares during the last quarter. 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.