California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.16% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $37,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares during the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,449.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $84,263,000 after purchasing an additional 240,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $221.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $396.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $256.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.18. 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 (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.