West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $403.75.

WST has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $321.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $332.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.70, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52 week low of $265.00 and a 52 week high of $413.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 203,198 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after acquiring an additional 10,060 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in 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 worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.