West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC decreased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,275 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 138.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 136 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a 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 stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.6 %

WST stock opened at $221.49 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $396.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $256.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.