West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $332.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $332.50.

A number of brokerages have commented on WST. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during 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 raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in 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 buying an additional 23,850 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $226.15 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $397.72. The company has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.43.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 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.