Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 2,843 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 76.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,561 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,545,899,000 after purchasing an additional 388,144 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after buying an additional 68,330 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $726,895,000 after buying an additional 503,601 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,172,583 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $307,604,000 after buying an additional 131,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 959,525 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $209,944,000 after buying an additional 10,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on WST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore cut their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $245.19 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $322.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 3.02. The company has a market cap of $17.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $244.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.64.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s 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, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

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.