Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,052 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 73,584 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $62,844,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 337.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,323 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after purchasing an additional 50,402 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 146,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $40,425,000 after buying an additional 27,745 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 100.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 209,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $52,549,000 after buying an additional 104,924 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 130,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,826,000 after acquiring an additional 8,179 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,027,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of WST opened at $342.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $350.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $306.04. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $223.83 and a twelve month high of $386.00.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 11.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 target price for the company. One investment 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.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $368.08.

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.