Park Place Capital Corp Trims Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Park Place Capital Corp lowered its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 42.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 227 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% in the first quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $352,190,000 after purchasing an additional 935,721 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $731,747,000 after purchasing an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 57.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 997,882 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $223,406,000 after purchasing an additional 365,575 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at about $79,255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,134,706 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $254,038,000 after purchasing an additional 343,997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $262.81 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $352.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $766.50 million for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price target on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $311.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Rothschild Redb upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.56.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.