Meeder Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 10,911 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,917,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth $2,387,990,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after acquiring an additional 68,330 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,850,401 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $784,259,000 after buying an additional 79,481 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $733,733,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,869,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $512,250,000 after purchasing an additional 11,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WST shares. Barclays raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $346.21 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.83 and a fifty-two week high of $386.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $347.23 and a 200 day moving average of $297.66. The firm has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.82.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The business had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.