OneAscent Financial Services LLC Invests $251,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 765 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,980 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $203.00 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $396.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $251.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22.

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. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. On average, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WST shares. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started 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 six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.