West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning.

WST has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America raised their price target 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. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $232.43 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $305.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $308.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 39,466.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,838,000 after buying an additional 26,048 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,553 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 27,611 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,513,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,511 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.