West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 64,724 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 4,980 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co. owned about 0.09% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $14,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 188.3% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 3,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 46,860 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $15,615,000 after purchasing an additional 4,812 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WST. Wall Street Zen lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST traded down $3.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $221.77. The stock had a trading volume of 447,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,407. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $352.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $211.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.24.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.19%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.