Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Acquires 4,812 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,860 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,812 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned about 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $15,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WST shares. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $214.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a PEG ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $327.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.92.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. On average, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

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.