Inspire Advisors LLC Acquires 788 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 48.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,431 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,316,804 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,038,517,000 after acquiring an additional 85,083 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% during the 1st quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $352,190,000 after purchasing an additional 935,721 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,562,139 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $323,766,000 after purchasing an additional 124,737 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at about $255,072,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,134,706 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $254,038,000 after buying an additional 343,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Cowen assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Rothschild Redb raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.7%

WST stock opened at $258.31 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.80. The company has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.87. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $348.90.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 16.29%.The firm had revenue of $804.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.