West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $332.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $332.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped 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. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $222.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $396.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $263.98 and a 200-day moving average of $297.82.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm 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 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.