West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on WST. Bank of America lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research 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 on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $210.72 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $316.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $310.57. 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 market cap of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $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 fourth 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,238,000 after purchasing an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $145,379,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.