221,783 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 221,783 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $72,646,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.31% of West Pharmaceutical Services as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 21,071 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,902,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $25,436,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,030 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,630,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 468,120 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $153,337,000 after buying an additional 19,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 571 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. 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 Price Performance

WST stock opened at $231.55 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $295.38 and a 200-day moving average of $305.86. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.