Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $222,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 679 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $145,379,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $72,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after buying an additional 203,198 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.6 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $221.49 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $396.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $256.73 and its 200-day moving average is $296.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released 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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given 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 payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Two 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

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.