Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 1,368 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 33,428 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,368 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $10,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in 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 worth $3,269,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of WST opened at $229.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $274.78 and a 200 day moving average of $300.47. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $197.01 and a 52-week high of $397.72. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $739.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WST shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.