Allstate Corp Takes $674,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Allstate Corp bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,571 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 939 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.1% in the second quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,318 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 1,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WST. Barclays boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, January 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, December 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $335.78.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $247.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $271.21 and its 200 day moving average is $260.49. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $348.90. The firm has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $804.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 13.04%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.