Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $11.94 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $11,938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during 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 period. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth $145,379,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $72,646,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 lowered their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $231.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $295.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.85. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.