West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 66.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,863 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,761 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WST. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 7.7 %

NYSE:WST opened at $203.00 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week 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 fifty day moving average is $251.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.