West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (NYSE:WST) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $152.12 and last traded at $150.81, with a volume of 169437 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.77.
Several analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Sunday, November 3rd. Bank of America cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, ValuEngine downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.29.
The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 47.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $148.22 and its 200-day moving average is $139.39.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 12.82% and a return on equity of 16.66%. The firm had revenue of $456.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $450.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.78%.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 66.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 597,787 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $74,812,000 after buying an additional 239,545 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.3% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 438,054 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $54,822,000 after acquiring an additional 96,670 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth approximately $480,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 201.1% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 155,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $22,004,000 after purchasing an additional 103,619 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 25,001.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 29,620 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,707,000 after purchasing an additional 29,502 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.21% of the company’s stock.
About West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the United States, Germany, France, Other European countries, South Korea, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.
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