Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires Shares of 912 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares during the period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,646,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased 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. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $229.03 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.