PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,464 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,533 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WST. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. 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. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $224.23 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. The firm has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.27.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts forecast 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, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.