Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Reduces Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,471 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 17,574 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.16% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $38,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE WST opened at $222.08 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $396.75. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $263.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

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.