DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Reduces Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 67.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,861 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,774 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp dropped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $213.39 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $216.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.99. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $367.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.19%.

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.

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