West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,772 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $11,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,980 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WST. KeyCorp cut their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $203.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $396.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.