227 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Bought by Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A.

Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 227 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,656 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,838 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 115,810 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $37,935,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth about $706,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth about $31,114,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.6 %

WST stock opened at $221.49 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $396.75. 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 simple moving average of $256.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

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.