West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 66.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 86,104 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $14,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 69.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 3,838 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 1,573 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,557 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 18,517 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,558,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after purchasing an additional 12,850 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 36,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $10,879,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in 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 a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WST opened at $203.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $234.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $394.42.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. On average, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.