West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $344.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $344.00.

WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $225.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $307.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.