Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Takes Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 864 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 935,721 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $731,747,000 after acquiring an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 997,882 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $223,406,000 after acquiring an additional 365,575 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the first quarter worth about $79,255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 343,997 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WST shares. Barclays boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 target price on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WST stock opened at $262.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $252.88 and a 200-day moving average of $230.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $352.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $766.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 16.48%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.57%.

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.