Callan Family Office LLC Purchases New Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,659 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 6,975 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,285,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 1,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 220 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,646,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $231.55 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $295.38 and a 200-day moving average of $305.86.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. Equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.