Key Points
- Insider sale: VP Annette Favorite sold 2,817 shares at an average price of $305.20 (≈$859,748), cutting her stake by 14.34% to 16,828 shares, as disclosed in an SEC Form 4 filing.
- Strong quarterly results and outlook: West beat estimates with $2.13 EPS (vs. $1.68 expected) and $844.9M revenue (up 21% year-over-year), and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of $8.40–$8.75, prompting analyst upgrades and upward revisions.
- Capital returns announced: The board authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase plan (up to ~5.6% of shares) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share (annualized $0.88, ~0.3% yield; ex-dividend April 29).
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total transaction of $269,400.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $457,920.41. The trade was a 37.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.
West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance
WST stock opened at $295.20 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $202.79 and a 1 year high of $322.34. The company has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $256.08 and a 200 day moving average of $263.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.04.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.45. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.85% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $844.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $779.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.750 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.120 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement
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 paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.76%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WST. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 27.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,020 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 78.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 449 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 168.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 46,332 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $10,137,000 after purchasing an additional 29,067 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WST shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $322.89.
View Our Latest Stock Report on WST
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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