William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 417,309 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 417,309 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $149,814,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,387,990,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after purchasing an additional 68,330 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,850,401 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $784,259,000 after purchasing an additional 79,481 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $733,733,000. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $728,168,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WST. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST opened at $352.94 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.83 and a fifty-two week high of $386.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $348.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.75. The company has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.19, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The company had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.27%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.