CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 2,744 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 63,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $20,903,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 80,825 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,260,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,536,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,794,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 100,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,103,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE:WST opened at $201.78 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $394.42. The stock has a market cap of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $219.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.52. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. 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 currently 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.