First Bank & Trust Raises Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

First Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,935 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after buying an additional 16,418 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $202.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $321.24 and a 200-day moving average of $311.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.62% and a net margin of 17.03%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

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.