Evercore ISI Begins Coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST)

Equities researchers at Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.50% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $332.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of WST opened at $230.14 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $279.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.60. The company has a market capitalization of $16.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $197.01 and a 1-year high of $400.88.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.