Lbp Am Sa Acquires 19,819 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Lbp Am Sa lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 905.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,009 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,819 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 3rd quarter worth $49,085,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 83,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 14,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,122,000 after buying an additional 4,477 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 300.0% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 18,586 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,876,000 after buying an additional 13,940 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 559.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,620,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.67.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST stock opened at $269.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $193.05 and a 12-month high of $322.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.15.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.70 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 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.