Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 3,573 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,818 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,573 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned approximately 0.05% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $13,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after acquiring an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $139,513,000 after purchasing an additional 417,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $215.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.47. The stock has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $352.33. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 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 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stephens upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

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.