Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $1.63 Million Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,985 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WST shares. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $210.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $316.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $310.73. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88.

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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

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.