HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares during the period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third 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 period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,020,000 after buying an additional 203,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp cut their price target on 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 assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.2 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $227.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The company has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $276.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $301.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share 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, sell-side 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. 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.