Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired 1,067 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., valued at approximately $239,000, during the 1st quarter.
• West Pharmaceutical reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.84, surpassing analyst expectations, and its revenue increased by 9.2% year-over-year to $766.50 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.22 per share, reflecting a 0.4% yield and a payout ratio of 12.57%.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,067 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $731,747,000 after purchasing an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $139,513,000 after buying an additional 417,995 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,322,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.0% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 231,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $51,905,000 after acquiring an additional 154,315 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WST. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $239.15 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $352.33. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $224.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 12.57%.

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.

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