West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 236,963 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 16,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $62,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 83,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 18,586 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,876,000 after acquiring an additional 13,940 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,636,000 after acquiring an additional 12,348 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,304,000 after purchasing an additional 10,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Growth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 34,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WST. Zacks Research upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $314.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 0.8%

WST stock opened at $240.82 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $187.43 and a one year high of $322.34. The firm has a market cap of $17.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $246.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 3.02.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.The company had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.96%.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.