Ninety One UK Ltd Sells 3,623 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ninety One UK Ltd lowered its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,275 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,623 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd owned approximately 0.12% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $27,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth about $41,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 209 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.4 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $335.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $332.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $314.42. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.78, a PEG ratio of 19.82 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

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.