West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,019,007,000 after buying an additional 44,376 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,552,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $835,945,000 after purchasing an additional 266,488 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $581,209,000 after purchasing an additional 38,757 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 2.6%

WST opened at $224.15 on Friday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $210.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.78.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 13.19%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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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