Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $320,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,020,000 after acquiring an additional 203,198 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after purchasing an additional 10,060 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after purchasing an additional 12,850 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after buying an additional 122,361 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $231.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $283.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.66. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. 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 (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. On average, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WST shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

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.