Haverford Trust Co Decreases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 767 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WST shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $225.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $270.58 and its 200 day moving average is $299.46. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend 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.