West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,833 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 4,916 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.36% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $85,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 15,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 8,429 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,395 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.6%

WST stock opened at $213.39 on Monday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $216.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $367.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. The firm's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.