West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Purchased by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 388,567 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 79,089 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.54% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $86,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 85.0% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 248.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.5% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 331 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays initiated 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. Three 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, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of WST traded down $2.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $226.93. 465,375 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 583,984. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average is $216.76 and its 200-day moving average is $246.92.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 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.