UBS Group Upgrades West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) to Buy

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) was upgraded by analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $390.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $350.00. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.10% from the stock’s previous close.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $330.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.14 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $311.84. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $520,569,000 after acquiring an additional 12,850 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 683,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $205,114,000 after acquiring an additional 122,361 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $178,828,000 after acquiring an additional 396,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.