Voleon Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP invested approximately $710,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services by purchasing 3,172 shares during the first quarter.
• West Pharmaceutical Services announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.21 to $0.22 per share, reflecting a 12.57% dividend payout ratio.
• The company reported earnings of $1.84 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $766.50 million, up 9.2% year-over-year.

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,172 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 935,721 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 365,575 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $79,255,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,231,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,066,798,000 after buying an additional 244,259 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WST. Barclays began 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. Wall Street Zen raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WST traded down $10.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $253.50. The company had a trading volume of 746,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,180. The stock has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $352.33. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $241.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.38.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. As a group, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is 12.57%.

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.