Net Worth Advisory Group Buys 1,004 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Net Worth Advisory Group grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 54.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares during the quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after purchasing an additional 16,418 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $706,000. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 188.3% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 3,140 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 571 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $223.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $352.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.90.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.24 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 13.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

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.