Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,316,804 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,038,517,000 after acquiring an additional 85,083 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after purchasing an additional 68,330 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.3% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,267,319 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $496,089,000 after acquiring an additional 71,836 shares during the period. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth $255,072,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 959,525 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,944,000 after buying an additional 10,070 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore lowered their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $330.13.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 7.6%

NYSE WST opened at $249.13 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $262.19. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.43 and a 52 week high of $332.47. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.04%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.