Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Has $12.55 Million Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 890 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $12,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 46,860 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,615,000 after acquiring an additional 4,812 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 188.3% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 3,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after acquiring an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WST. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp dropped 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. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $214.84 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $400.88. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.