West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,297 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $12,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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 buying an additional 676,167 shares during the period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $145,379,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,020,000 after acquiring an additional 203,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third 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 valued at $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup began 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 on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.4 %

WST stock opened at $222.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $307.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.52. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.