West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Stock analysts at Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.80% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on WST. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $265.00 and a 1 year high of $413.70. The firm has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.96, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $312.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 108.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,633.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 172 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.