West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stock Position Raised by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,542 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 150.9% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WST. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their target price 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, StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $229.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $274.78 and its 200-day moving average is $300.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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 $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.