Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 1,669 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,172 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,669 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WST. State Street Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after buying an additional 68,330 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,850,401 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $784,259,000 after acquiring an additional 79,481 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,869,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $512,250,000 after acquiring an additional 11,962 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 1,561,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $429,733,000 after acquiring an additional 585,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,531,858 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $421,476,000 after purchasing an additional 53,229 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $353.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $342.97 and a 200-day moving average of $292.25. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $223.83 and a one year high of $386.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 20.11%. The firm had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $839.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.140-2.240 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 11.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.