Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 1,786 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 179,369 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $58,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.6% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,752 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,227,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,080 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $10,830,000 after acquiring an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $167,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WST. 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 on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $321.50 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.00 and a 52 week high of $413.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $314.48. The firm has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.70, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

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.