West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $344.00 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $344.00.

WST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $232.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $16.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.74, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $197.01 and a 1 year high of $400.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.12.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.03% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The business had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. Research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WST. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at $41,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.