West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Price Target Lowered to $325.00 at KeyCorp

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) had its target price decreased by KeyCorp from $470.00 to $325.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has an overweight rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

WST has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.9 %

WST opened at $214.84 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $327.86 and a 200-day moving average of $313.82. The stock has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $416,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,486,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 768,848 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $251,844,000 after buying an additional 109,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,265,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.