2,887 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Bought by Accretive Wealth Partners LLC

Accretive Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $946,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in 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 buying an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $145,379,000. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $205,114,000 after buying an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,271,000 after buying an additional 101,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of 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. KeyCorp cut 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 report on Friday. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $214.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $327.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.82. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $400.88. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. Equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.46%.

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.