West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,643 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 13,446 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $41,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,231,721 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,066,798,000 after buying an additional 244,259 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.1% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,268,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $731,747,000 after buying an additional 716,442 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% in the 1st quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $352,190,000 after buying an additional 935,721 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,562,139 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $323,766,000 after buying an additional 124,737 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,134,706 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $254,038,000 after buying an additional 343,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST opened at $286.82 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.43 and a 1-year high of $348.90. The stock has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $260.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.24.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $311.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $349.11.

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.