West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Holdings Increased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 461,462 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 24,102 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.65% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $115,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,742,000. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 152,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $41,862,000 after buying an additional 15,678 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 122,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $33,831,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 146,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $40,425,000 after acquiring an additional 27,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 130,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $32,826,000 after acquiring an additional 8,179 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. Barclays upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $447.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $364.42.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.9%

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $337.46 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $223.83 and a 12 month high of $386.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.16. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $338.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $288.26.

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, 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 analysts' expectations of $839.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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