887,177 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 887,177 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $290,604,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WST. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after acquiring an additional 563,705 shares during the period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,449.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $84,263,000 after purchasing an additional 240,642 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.8 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $222.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $263.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.82. The stock has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G 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 $396.75. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio 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.