Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,557 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 80,825 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,260,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,536,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WST. KeyCorp dropped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on 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, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $209.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $394.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.