Grandfield & Dodd LLC Takes $598,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,667 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,387,990,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $733,733,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth $272,041,000. Generation Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 1,561,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $429,733,000 after purchasing an additional 585,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $323,280,000 after buying an additional 473,547 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $346.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.39, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $223.83 and a fifty-two week high of $386.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $347.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The business had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. The company’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. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 11.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.