Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 204,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 11,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.28% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $67,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.8 %
WST traded down $4.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $230.14. 818,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,153. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $281.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.10. The company has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 12.56%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have issued reports on WST. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of 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. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.
View Our Latest Analysis on West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More
Before you consider West Pharmaceutical Services, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and West Pharmaceutical Services wasn't on the list.
While West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
