West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Sets New 52-Week Low - Time to Sell?

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $256.27 and last traded at $229.38, with a volume of 16866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $322.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WST shares. KeyCorp dropped 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.9 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $327.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $313.97. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $964,850,000 after buying an additional 10,060 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,019,007,000 after acquiring an additional 44,376 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,552,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $835,945,000 after acquiring an additional 266,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $581,209,000 after acquiring an additional 38,757 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.