Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Invests $299,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 912 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $299,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST opened at $229.03 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $397.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $274.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

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.