EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 537 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 548.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 140,893 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,151,000 after acquiring an additional 16,418 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 321.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 130,345 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,124,000 after buying an additional 23,850 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WST shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 3.0 %

WST opened at $230.33 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $303.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The firm has a market cap of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.