West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock Holdings Raised by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 199.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 154,315 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $51,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $731,747,000 after buying an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $581,209,000 after buying an additional 38,757 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 790,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $259,005,000 after buying an additional 107,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 768,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $251,844,000 after buying an additional 109,481 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WST traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.15. The company had a trading volume of 632,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 841,329. The stock has a market cap of $17.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.21. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $352.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.71.

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.