West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Holdings Raised by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,457 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $227.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $276.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $400.88.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.