Analysts Set West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Price Target at $437.75

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $430.20.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $339.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $326.39 and a 200 day moving average of $312.41. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.46%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WST. State Street Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after buying an additional 10,060 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.