Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 43.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,031 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,353 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $731,747,000 after purchasing an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 44,376 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $581,209,000 after purchasing an additional 38,757 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $357,238,000 after purchasing an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,604,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WST. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST traded down $15.78 on Friday, hitting $263.32. 1,493,189 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 777,491. 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 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $220.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.22. The stock has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. 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.