Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,876 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.7 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $229.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $274.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $397.72.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

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.