West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,987,462 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,509 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $2,943,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $225.79 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $397.72. The stock has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $270.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.46.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. Equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.