2,254 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Purchased by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Free Report) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,254 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,545,899,000 after buying an additional 388,144 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after acquiring an additional 68,330 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $726,895,000 after acquiring an additional 503,601 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,172,583 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $307,604,000 after acquiring an additional 131,935 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 606,332 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $159,059,000 after purchasing an additional 125,398 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $273.71 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $199.89 and a twelve month high of $322.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $248.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $261.62.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 17.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company 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 authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WST. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore reduced their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.67.

Read Our Latest Report on West Pharmaceutical Services

About West Pharmaceutical Services

(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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