West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,815 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 4,290 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.09% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $20,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 46,860 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $15,615,000 after buying an additional 4,812 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 188.3% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 3,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WST traded up $0.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $203.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,801,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,130. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $321.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $311.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.62%. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on WST shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $344.00.

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.