West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $203.43 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The company has a market cap of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $318.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $311.20. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.