West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $465.33.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WST. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 322.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 93 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,633.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 332.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST traded down $3.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $327.76. 100,071 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,109. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.85. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. The company has a market capitalization of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 1.01. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.46%.

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.