West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) VP Annette Favorite Sells 2,524 Shares of Stock

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) VP Annette Favorite sold 2,524 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $921,260.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 21,818 shares in the company, valued at $7,963,570. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $364.36 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $348.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $312.34. The firm has a market cap of $25.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.12. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $223.83 and a 1 year high of $386.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $340.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.08.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth $2,387,990,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in 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 valued at $784,259,000 after acquiring an additional 79,481 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at about $733,733,000. Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at about $728,168,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,869,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $512,250,000 after purchasing an additional 11,962 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc (NYSE: WST) develops and manufactures components and systems used to package, contain and deliver injectable medicines and other healthcare products. Its customers include pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, which use West products in drug administration and medical applications.

The company’s offerings include elastomer components such as stoppers, plungers and seals; syringe and cartridge components; vial and container closure systems; and specialized delivery systems for injectable and other complex medicines.