Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $320,000 Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,581 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,176,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $16,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 64.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 18,738 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,625,000 after acquiring an additional 7,334 shares during the period. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.6 %

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $231.60 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $302.66. 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 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

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.