Point72 Asset Management L.P. Buys Shares of 202,472 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 202,472 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $66,322,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.28% of West Pharmaceutical Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $217.00. 535,635 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,647. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $214.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $355.66.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp lowered their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $332.50.

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.