West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Analysts at Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research note issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.24% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on WST. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $332.66 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $312.15. West Pharmaceutical Services has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The stock has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 49.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $133,271,000 after buying an additional 101,710 shares during the last quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.0% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 397,152 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $119,209,000 after purchasing an additional 98,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 88.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,366,000 after acquiring an additional 63,102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.