DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 332 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 332 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,449,811 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,130,020,000 after purchasing an additional 203,198 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $964,850,000 after buying an additional 10,060 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,110,903 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,019,007,000 after buying an additional 44,376 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $520,569,000 after buying an additional 12,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $290,604,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. 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, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $222.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $16.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $297.79. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $396.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s 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.