ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Invests $4.59 Million in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 14,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,371 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,119,000 after buying an additional 3,526 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,358 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 7,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,293,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 238.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 819 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 77,545 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $23,276,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $210.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a PEG ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $323.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.62%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WST. UBS Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.