Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,134 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 1,337 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $290,604,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $731,747,000 after acquiring an additional 716,442 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $139,513,000 after acquiring an additional 417,995 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,449.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $84,263,000 after acquiring an additional 240,642 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 4.8%
NYSE WST traded down $10.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $210.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,472,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,133. The company has a market capitalization of $15.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $218.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.18. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $352.33.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 16.13%. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.19%.
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
(
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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