Wasatch Advisors LP Takes Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Wasatch Advisors LP bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 24,670 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $8,857,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 78.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 449 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 168.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 46,332 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 29,067 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $352.04 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $345.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.61. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.83 and a 1 year high of $386.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.82.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.140-2.240 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 11.27%.

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.