Ieq Capital LLC Buys Shares of 706 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 706 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares during the period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $145,379,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after buying an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during 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 buying an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,271,000 after buying an additional 101,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 4.4 %

WST opened at $232.43 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $305.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.12.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 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.