Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 409 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp reduced 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given 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 target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $230.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $285.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $303.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. 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.