19,063 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Acquired by Burt Wealth Advisors

Burt Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,000. West Pharmaceutical Services comprises about 1.0% of Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,110 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 2,067 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 7,887 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.8% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.7% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WST. Rothschild Redb raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $245.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.3%

WST stock opened at $258.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.43 and a twelve month high of $352.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.84.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.33. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 18.43%. The business had revenue of $766.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.650-6.850 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 12th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is presently 12.57%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.