KeyCorp Cuts West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Price Target to $325.00

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) had its price target reduced by research analysts at KeyCorp from $470.00 to $325.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. KeyCorp’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 51.28% from the company’s current price.

WST has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 7.9 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $214.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $327.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $313.92. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $416,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $6,486,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 768,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $251,844,000 after purchasing an additional 109,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $14,265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.