PGGM Investments Sells 1,117 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

PGGM Investments cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,257 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,117 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 548.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,334 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,350 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,390,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $224.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $289.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.27. The stock has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $197.01 and a one year high of $400.88.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $739.59 million. As a group, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.56%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.