West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 115,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $37,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after acquiring an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.6 %

WST stock opened at $221.49 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $256.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $396.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to 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 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.