Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 403 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. trimmed its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,364 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 403 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WST opened at $225.97 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $400.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $301.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.34.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.