Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,888 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $5,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 935,721 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.7% in the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,562,139 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $323,766,000 after purchasing an additional 124,737 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% in 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 valued at $254,038,000 after purchasing an additional 343,997 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:WST opened at $279.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 1.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $352.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.35. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI set a $350.00 target price on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 target price on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Barclays raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.89.

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.