Citigroup Begins Coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)

Equities research analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Citigroup’s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.80% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on WST. Bank of America raised their price objective on 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 upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $336.71 on Wednesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $325.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.49.

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

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 6,342 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.