West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.67.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 38.1 %

WST stock opened at $199.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $14.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $408.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $330.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $314.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. On average, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.