Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 1,377 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,181 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. owned about 0.06% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $14,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WST. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

WST opened at $230.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $279.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $301.60. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors 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 yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.56%.

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.