Citigroup Inc. Acquires 49,102 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 88.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 49,102 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.15% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $23,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $731,747,000 after purchasing an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 417,995 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,231,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,066,798,000 after acquiring an additional 244,259 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $66,322,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.0% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 231,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $51,905,000 after acquiring an additional 154,315 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.0%

WST stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $246.16. 781,012 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 854,485. The firm's 50 day moving average is $229.61 and its 200 day moving average is $230.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $352.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 1.05.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.57%.

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.