First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 26,539 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 175.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,673 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 26,539 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $13,650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew 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 buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock traded up $1.86 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $212.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 139,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,889. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $372.79. The company has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $218.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.63.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.19%.

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.