Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 4,940 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,679 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 4,940 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $18,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth about $41,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 209 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 216 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WST shares. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WST stock opened at $210.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 6.70 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $316.29 and a 200 day moving average of $310.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 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.