Woodline Partners LP Raises Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, acquiring 119,417 additional shares, bringing its total to 138,871 shares worth approximately $31.09 million.
• The company reported a 9.2% increase in year-over-year revenue, totaling $766.5 million and earnings per share of $1.84, exceeding estimates.
• West Pharmaceutical Services announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.22, set to be paid on November 19th, with an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 613.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 138,871 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 119,417 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.19% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $31,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% during the 1st 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. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 716,442 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 365,575 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter valued at $79,255,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 244,259 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $311.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given 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 "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $319.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.7%

WST traded up $4.37 on Monday, hitting $257.87. The company had a trading volume of 144,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 818,903. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $241.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.44. 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 quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 16.48%.The business had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm 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. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 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.