Terra Alpha Investments LLC Takes $1.78 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,782,000. West Pharmaceutical Services accounts for about 1.8% of Terra Alpha Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after purchasing an additional 23,850 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on WST shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE WST opened at $230.33 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.25.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 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.