Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Purchases 29,800 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 29,800 shares during the quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.16% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $37,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Norges Bank purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $209,879,000 after buying an additional 563,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $145,379,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $216.28. 184,988 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 726,300. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $355.66. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $214.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.57. 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 market cap of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 18.60% 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Stephens upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $332.50.

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.