HB Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 898.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,047 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,841 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,604,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,747,000 after buying an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% in 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. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $66,322,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 5.7%

NYSE WST opened at $263.32 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $220.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.78. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $352.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $766.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.