DnB Asset Management AS Has $4.19 Million Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 139,788 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $45,789,000 after buying an additional 9,443 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $290,604,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 103,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,022,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 8,159 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,562 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $222.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.79. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $396.75. The stock has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders 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 is 12.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

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.