Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Invests $979,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,989 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $979,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WST. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 209 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 901 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 817 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST traded down $0.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $210.70. 154,115 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 724,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $211.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.08. The company has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $352.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 13.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WST shares. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

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.