West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,830 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 192 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth about $167,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,119,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $324.25 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $409.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $332.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $314.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of 48.11, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WST. Bank of America boosted 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 assumed 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. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.75.

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.