Options positioning for WST has flipped sharply in less than a week. Short sellers are also retreating. The signals point the same direction.
On May 15, the put/call ratio hit 2.25 — the highest in two months. Five trading days later, it stands at 1.43. That's a drop of 0.83 in a week.
The current PCR sits nearly two standard deviations below its 20-day mean of 1.85. Call buying has dominated. Options traders who were hedging against downside are now positioning for upside.
The stock has backed this up. WST is up 11.6% over the past month. It closed at $305.50 on May 20.
Short interest has fallen sharply alongside the sentiment shift. SI dropped 15–17% in the week to May 19, landing at 3.2% of free float. That's down from roughly 3.9% a month ago — a 17.3% decline over 30 days.
At 3.2% of float, short interest isn't extreme. But the speed of covering matters. Shorts reduced positions at the same time call buyers were moving in. The two flows reinforce each other.
Borrow availability stands at 4,696%. That's extremely loose — roughly 47 shares available to borrow for every one already lent out. There is no squeeze dynamic here. The covering reflects a deliberate change in view, not a forced exit.
One note of friction: cost to borrow rose 55% in the past week to 0.41% annualised. That's still low in absolute terms. But the direction is worth watching. Even with availability this high, borrowing costs are ticking up as the stock rallies.
Barclays raised its price target on WST twice in April — from $265 to $275, then from $275 to $310. The stock is now trading at $305.50, within 1.5% of that revised target. Evercore ISI holds an Outperform rating with a $320 target. TD Cowen initiated with Buy at $350.
The mean analyst target sits at $349.85, implying roughly 14.5% upside from current levels.
T. Rowe Price added 1.35 million shares as of the March 31 filing. FMR LLC added 1.14 million in the same period. Those are meaningful additions from large active managers.
Watch: Whether the PCR continues to compress toward 52-week lows (0.36) or reverts toward the 1.85 mean as the recent rally consolidates.
See the live data behind this article on ORTEX.
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