Evercore ISI Begins Coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)

Analysts at Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.50% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $230.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $279.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.60. 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 firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.