West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. decreased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,637 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,991 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $373,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 5,246 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth $1,610,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth $1,208,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cowen started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $342.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $267.03 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $348.90. The company has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $273.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $250.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.04%.

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.