National Pension Service Boosts Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,447 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,007 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $36,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after acquiring an additional 203,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after acquiring an additional 122,361 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp decreased 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 report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $232.43 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $305.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $308.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.74, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.