Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires New Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Advisors Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,270 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth $2,387,990,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth approximately $728,168,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $272,041,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $323,280,000 after acquiring an additional 473,547 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.2%

WST stock opened at $352.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $348.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.75. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.83 and a 12 month high of $386.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $839.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm'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, equities research 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.2%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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