Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires Shares of 94,988 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 94,988 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $31,114,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.13% of West Pharmaceutical Services as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth about $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WST opened at $222.08 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $396.75. The stock has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $263.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

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.