111 Capital Takes Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

111 Capital bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 85.0% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 185 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 587.5% in the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 220 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at $53,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WST. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Zacks Research cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Rothschild Redb upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of WST opened at $266.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 1.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $352.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $251.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.20.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.57%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.