KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $7.96 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $7,960,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,074.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 689,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,851,000 after buying an additional 676,167 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 731.8% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 640,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $209,879,000 after purchasing an additional 563,705 shares in the last quarter. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $145,379,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1,449.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 257,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $84,263,000 after buying an additional 240,642 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WST. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of 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, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. 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, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $231.93 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $397.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.96. 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 (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

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.