West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd significantly increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 835.5% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 9,750 shares, bringing its total to 10,917 shares worth approximately $2.44 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted their holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, with 93.90% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• West Pharmaceutical Services recently reported better-than-expected earnings, with a 9.2% year-over-year increase in revenue and a quarterly dividend raise from $0.21 to $0.22, representing a 0.35% dividend yield.

XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 835.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,917 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 9,750 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the 1st 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 during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,090,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $357,238,000 after buying an additional 494,828 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5,277.7% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 425,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $139,513,000 after buying an additional 417,995 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,322,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 199.0% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 231,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $51,905,000 after purchasing an additional 154,315 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $320.71.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $239.15. The company had a trading volume of 632,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 876,004. The firm's fifty day moving average is $223.53 and its 200 day moving average is $236.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.09. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve 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.

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. The company had revenue of $766.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.