CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 2,744 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,744 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.09% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $20,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 80,825 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,260,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth $1,536,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter valued at $2,794,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,161 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 100,291 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,103,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WST. 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 objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $201.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.89 and a 200-day moving average of $286.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.16, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.22. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $394.42. 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 (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

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.