Korea Investment CORP Purchases New Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $11,879,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 337.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,323 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 50,402 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 146,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,425,000 after acquiring an additional 27,745 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 100.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 209,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $52,549,000 after purchasing an additional 104,924 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 130,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,826,000 after purchasing an additional 8,179 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 56,693 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,599,000 after purchasing an additional 13,680 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WST shares. Barclays upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WST opened at $353.33 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.83 and a 1 year high of $386.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $349.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $301.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.24, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.The company had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’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. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.27%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.