T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 733,262 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 106,048 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.01% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $240,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP now owns 168,750 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $55,276,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $13,547,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,241 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 632,307 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $207,119,000 after purchasing an additional 21,806 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on WST shares. Stephens raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $215.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 146,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 717,566. The company has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.19. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $372.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company's revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 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.