QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,871 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 369 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 42,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,621,000 after buying an additional 12,745 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 56.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,067 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 120.2% in the third quarter. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.6% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 21,334 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WST. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $225.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.34. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. 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 (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. 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.