Woodline Partners LP Buys Shares of 19,454 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,454 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $6,372,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 138.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 136 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST traded up $5.26 on Tuesday, reaching $210.85. 559,855 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 726,896. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $352.33. The company has a market cap of $15.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $212.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 13.19%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.