Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,418 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,671 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $19,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 4,258 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Postrock Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $253,000. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 62,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $20,466,000 after acquiring an additional 4,090 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 548.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup started 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WST opened at $234.40 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.