Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Raises Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 81.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 6,676 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $3,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WST. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 34.7% in the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 5,581 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 1,437 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,784 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,612 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,376,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 14,749 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,302,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price target on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Cowen initiated coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 price target on West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $284.81 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $261.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.31. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $348.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.19, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 16.29%.The firm had revenue of $804.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.