West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Purchased by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 656.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,004 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $23,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,151,000 after acquiring an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $2,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 6.8 %

WST stock opened at $203.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $394.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $236.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during 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%. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WST. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.