Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Cuts Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE cut its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,893 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $12,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,184 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $134,527,000 after purchasing an additional 6,756 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 94.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,566 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America raised 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.4 %

WST opened at $231.93 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 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.