Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $11.15 Million Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 315.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 25,845 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $11,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth 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. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 138.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 136 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $213.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $216.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $277.99. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $367.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. The company 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%. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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