Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Acquires New Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 829 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 209 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST opened at $210.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $197.01 and a fifty-two week high of $400.88. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $316.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $310.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. On average, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

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.