West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 103.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,230 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 1,136 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 248.0% in the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.5% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.0%

WST traded down $2.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $226.93. 465,375 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,933. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $352.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.92. The firm has a market cap of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.77.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 16.13%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The business's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.19%.

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.