Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 260 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,334 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $145,379,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $72,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $234.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $281.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.10.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its 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 return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.

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.