William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes $149.81 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 417,309 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $149,814,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.59% of West Pharmaceutical Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,348,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,879,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $500,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,478,000. Finally, Blue Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $401,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WST. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target on the stock. One equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $352.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $348.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.75. The stock has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.12. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.83 and a 1-year high of $386.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released 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 firm had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.