Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.41 Million Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 1,351 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $39,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded up $5.00 on Wednesday, hitting $230.56. The stock had a trading volume of 729,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,341. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $301.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 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%. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.