Brokerages Set West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Price Target at $437.75

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $430.20.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WST. Bank of America raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $336.71 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $325.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $312.49. The stock has a market cap of $24.39 billion, a PE ratio of 49.96, a PEG ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,854,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake 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. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 397,152 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $119,209,000 after acquiring an additional 98,564 shares in the last quarter. 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.