West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Earns Peer Perform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Equities researchers at Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “peer perform” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Separately, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $330.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $312.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 48.97, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,854,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,196,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third 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 boosted its holdings 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 period. 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.