West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Upgraded by Stephens to Strong-Buy Rating

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Stephens to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Monday, April 21st,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.2 %

WST stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $214.03. 199,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,539. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $283.74. The company has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $372.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $209,879,000 after buying an additional 563,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $145,379,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

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.