West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 41.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $8,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during 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 buying an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,879,000 after buying an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $139,513,000 after buying an additional 417,995 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on WST shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST opened at $205.67 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $213.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.71. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $352.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.19%.

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.