Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 200 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,214,448 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $964,850,000 after purchasing an additional 10,060 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,740,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $520,569,000 after buying an additional 12,850 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.8% during 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 buying an additional 122,361 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 595,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $178,828,000 after buying an additional 396,780 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,184 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $134,527,000 after buying an additional 6,756 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $214.84 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $400.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.97. The firm has a market cap of $15.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 1.01.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup began 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

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.