M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,351 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,474 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,351 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.11% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $26,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $230.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $307.34. 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 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued 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 (DPR) 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.