West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Position Boosted by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 91.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,935 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 923 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $145,379,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,271,000 after acquiring an additional 101,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $202.66 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $321.24 and its 200-day moving average is $311.96. The stock has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

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.