TD Asset Management Inc. Sells 37,294 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

TD Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 413,013 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 37,294 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $135,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WST. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,449.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $84,263,000 after buying an additional 240,642 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $225.79 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $397.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.46.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WST. KeyCorp lowered their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.