Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Acquires New Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,270 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WST. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.1 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $211.15. The stock had a trading volume of 439,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 724,932. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $217.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.40. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $372.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.40%. 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.