Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Takes Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 21,847 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $7,843,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WST. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $352.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $223.83 and a 1-year high of $386.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $839.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.