West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $412.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.67.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of WST opened at $408.06 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $223.83 and a twelve month high of $438.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $369.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $314.55.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $874.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $827.12 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 18.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 9.88%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Annette Favorite sold 2,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $921,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 21,818 shares in the company, valued at $7,963,570. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,659 shares of company stock valued at $5,443,749. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth $2,387,990,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,348,698 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,202,183,000 after acquiring an additional 54,920 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $728,168,000. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $214,196,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc develops and manufactures components and delivery systems used in the administration and packaging of injectable medicines and other healthcare products. Its offerings include elastomer closures, seals, syringe components, drug-delivery systems, and other specialized packaging components designed to support the safety, quality, and performance of pharmaceutical products.

The company also provides contract-manufacturing services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device customers.