Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,232 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at about $189,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 102.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 244,814 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $53,565,000 after buying an additional 85,897 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 31,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,827,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI set a $350.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Rothschild Redb raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $261.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 1.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.43 and a 12-month high of $352.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.50.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.11 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 16.48%.The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.57%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.