Net Worth Advisory Group Sells 227 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Net Worth Advisory Group reduced its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WST. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $226.04 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. The stock has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.33.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.