West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.
Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WST. UBS Group increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.71.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on West Pharmaceutical Services
West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 5.7%
NYSE:WST opened at $263.32 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $220.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $239.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $352.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.81%. The company had revenue of $766.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $725.11 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% during the first quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $352,190,000 after purchasing an additional 935,721 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $290,604,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $731,747,000 after acquiring an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $357,238,000 after purchasing an additional 494,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $139,513,000 after buying an additional 417,995 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About West Pharmaceutical Services
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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