West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Stake Boosted by Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,041 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,019,007,000 after acquiring an additional 44,376 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,552,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $835,945,000 after acquiring an additional 266,488 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $581,209,000 after acquiring an additional 38,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,238,000 after acquiring an additional 494,828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Finally, Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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 $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $205.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $212.63 and its 200-day moving average is $269.89. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $352.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid 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 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.