Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake of 72,832 shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, valued at approximately $15.9 million, representing about 0.10% ownership as of the latest SEC filing.
• The consensus rating for West Pharmaceutical Services is a Moderate Buy, with analysts setting a price target averaging around $321.89, reflecting optimistic growth potential.
• West Pharmaceutical Services reported a quarter EPS of **$1.84**, exceeding estimates, with sales of **$766.5 million**, marking a **9.2% year-over-year revenue growth**.

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 72,832 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $15,936,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of West Pharmaceutical Services as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,231,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,066,798,000 after acquiring an additional 244,259 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $731,747,000 after acquiring an additional 716,442 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% during the first quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $352,190,000 after acquiring an additional 935,721 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.7% during the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,562,139 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $323,766,000 after acquiring an additional 124,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% during 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 worth $254,038,000 after acquiring an additional 343,997 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI set a $350.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of WST opened at $279.90 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $352.33. The company has a market cap of $20.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $256.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.35.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The business had revenue of $766.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.11 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. Research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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