Nomura Holdings Inc. Sells 33,756 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Nomura Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 93.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 33,756 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 904.2% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $7,187,000 after purchasing an additional 19,756 shares during the period. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $706,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of 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 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $217.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $214.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.88. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $355.66.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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