US Bancorp DE Sells 3,220 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

US Bancorp DE reduced its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,641 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,220 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in 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 during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. 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. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $230.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $301.48 and its 200 day moving average is $307.34.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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