West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on WST. 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE WST opened at $219.62 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $309.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $309.12. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01.

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, topping 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 analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after acquiring an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares during the period. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.