Choreo LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Choreo LLC trimmed its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 35.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 628 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 341 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Seilern Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,379,000. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 396,780 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $205,114,000 after purchasing an additional 122,361 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 29.7% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $133,271,000 after purchasing an additional 101,710 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.0% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 397,152 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $119,209,000 after purchasing an additional 98,564 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. 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 research note on Friday. Bank of America upped 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. StockNews.com raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.9 %

WST stock opened at $214.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $197.01 and a 12 month high of $400.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $327.86 and its 200 day moving average is $313.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The company had revenue of $748.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.