Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Increases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,800 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $9,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 39,466.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,838,000 after buying an additional 26,048 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,511 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.5% in the third quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,476 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 42,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,630,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 42,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,621,000 after buying an additional 12,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $232.43 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $308.12. The company has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.74, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $197.01 and a 12-month high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

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.