West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Now Covered by Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research note issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $245.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on WST. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.6%

WST stock opened at $217.05 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $213.83 and its 200 day moving average is $255.36. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $352.33. The stock has a market cap of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.23. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.23% and a net margin of 16.13%. The firm had revenue of $698.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,231,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,066,798,000 after purchasing an additional 244,259 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,020,000 after buying an additional 203,198 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,747,000 after buying an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,019,007,000 after acquiring an additional 44,376 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,778,940 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $581,209,000 after acquiring an additional 38,757 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.