3,700 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Purchased by Barbara Oil Co.

Barbara Oil Co. acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,700 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth approximately $2,387,990,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth about $728,168,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,041,000. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $214,196,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WST. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $375.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $352.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $223.83 and a 52-week high of $386.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.82. The firm's fifty day moving average is $348.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $300.19.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.The firm had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business's quarterly 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 11.27%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.

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