West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lowered its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 224,372 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 21,263 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $73,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WST. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 grew 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 purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,553,000. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 904.2% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after buying an additional 19,756 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $201.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $394.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.61. 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 (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

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.