Natixis Acquires New Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Natixis bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 4,409 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,444,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 138.6% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 136 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on WST shares. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $214.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $217.85 and a 200-day moving average of $285.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $15.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $394.42.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.