TAP Consulting LLC Increases Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

TAP Consulting LLC increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,562 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 486 shares during the quarter. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $230.14 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $279.03 and its 200 day moving average is $301.60. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $197.01 and a 52 week high of $400.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.40, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp lowered their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $350.00 to $390.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.50.

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.