DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 103.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,230 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 7,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth $393,000. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 14,749 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,612 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.00.
View Our Latest Stock Report on West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 2.1%
WST stock traded up $4.74 during trading on Thursday, hitting $230.92. 327,484 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,506. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $216.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $247.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $352.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.19%.
About West Pharmaceutical Services
(
Free Report)
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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