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Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

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Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “WST.” As of February 6, 2025, we had 523 shareholders of record, which excludes beneficial owners whose shares were held by brokerage firms, depositaries and other institutional firms in “street names” for their customers.

Dividends

We paid a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share on our common stock in each of the first three quarters of 2023; $0.20 per share in the fourth quarter of 2023 and each of the first three quarters of 2024; and $0.21 per share in the fourth quarter of 2024. We will continue to review our ability to pay cash dividends on an ongoing basis and dividends may be declared at the discretion of our Board of Directors. When considering whether to declare a dividend, our Board of Directors will take into account:

  • general economic and business conditions;

  • our financial condition and operating results;

  • our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs;

  • our capital requirements;

  • contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions on the payment of dividends by us; and

  • such other factors as our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table shows information with respect to purchases of our common stock made during the three months ended December 31, 2024 by us or any of our “affiliated purchasers” as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Exchange Act:

PeriodTotal number of shares purchased (1)Average price paid per share (1)Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs (1)Approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs (1)
October 1 - 31, 202465,531$297.8165,531$35,700,000
November 1 - 30, 202452,917321.1552,91718,700,000
December 1 - 31, 202454,798326.6454,798800,000
Total173,246$314.06173,246$800,000

(1) In February 2023, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program under which we may repurchase up to $1.0 billion in shares of common stock. The share repurchase program does not have an expiration date under which we may repurchase common stock on the open market or in privately-negotiated transactions. The number of shares to be repurchased and the timing of such transactions will depend on a variety of factors, including market conditions. During the three months ended December 31, 2024, we purchased 173,246 shares of our common stock under the program at a cost of $54.4 million, or an average price of $314.06 per share. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we purchased 1,583,032 shares of our common stock under the program at a cost of $560.9 million, or an average price of $354.30 per share.

Performance Graph

The following performance graph compares the cumulative total return to holders of our common stock with the cumulative total return of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (“S&P 500”) and the Standard & Poor's 500 Health Care Index, for the five years ended December 31, 2024. The performance graph is based on historical data and is not indicative of, or intended to forecast, future performance of our common stock.

Cumulative total return to shareholders is measured by dividing total dividends (assuming dividend reinvestment) plus the per-share price change for the period by the share price at the beginning of the period. The cumulative shareholder return on our common stock is based on an investment of $100 on December 31, 2019 and is compared to the cumulative total return of the S&P indices mentioned above over the period with a like amount invested.

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*Five year total return data obtained from NASDAQ IR Insight

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