West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 510,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,381 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.70% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $167,145,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WST shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $229.03 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $397.72. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $274.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $300.50. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

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.