Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 29,118 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 21.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 167,746 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 29,118 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $54,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $290,604,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after purchasing an additional 676,167 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,238,000 after purchasing an additional 494,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at $145,379,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $213.39 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $216.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.35. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.14. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $367.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $685.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on 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. Stephens upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

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.