Norinchukin Bank The Acquires 213 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Norinchukin Bank The raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,151 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth $1,536,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,794,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 100,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,103,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 2.0 %

WST stock opened at $206.02 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $394.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. 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 50-day simple moving average of $217.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.81.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for 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, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.