Northern Trust Corp Raises Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 768,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 109,481 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $251,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 626 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $78,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp reduced 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. Evercore ISI initiated 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 for the company. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $207.79. The company had a trading volume of 118,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 722,561. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $14.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $217.81 and a 200-day moving average of $280.40.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 13.19%.

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.