Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,353 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,403 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,353 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $29,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after acquiring an additional 10,060 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $520,569,000 after purchasing an additional 12,850 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $210.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $316.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.62. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The stock has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.