CW Advisors LLC Has $7.23 Million Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

CW Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,275 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,681 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $7,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 175.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 41,673 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $13,650,000 after acquiring an additional 26,539 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 274,833 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $90,028,000 after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,241 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $13,547,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of WST stock opened at $247.57 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.13. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $245.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.71.

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.