Assetmark Inc. Acquires 1,497 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 22.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,030 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 5,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WST shares. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of WST stock traded down $6.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $224.23. 949,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 982,552. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $289.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.27. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.