Amundi Decreases Stock Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Amundi reduced its West Pharmaceutical Services stake by 40.2% in the second quarter, selling 258,754 shares and retaining 385,311 shares worth approximately $138.3 million.
• Institutional investors hold 93.9% of WST shares, with several major firms increasing or initiating positions during the period.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $368.08. West Pharmaceutical Services also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.37 in EPS and $872.3 million in revenue.

Amundi cut its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 40.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,311 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 258,754 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned 0.55% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $138,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WST. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 36,590.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,592,489 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $14,572,704,000 after purchasing an additional 40,481,855 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth about $2,387,990,000. State Street Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 68,330 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $733,733,000. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $375.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted 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 research note on Thursday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $447.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.7%

WST opened at $337.66 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $349.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $308.63. The company has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.23, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.14. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $223.83 and a 52 week high of $386.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.The business had revenue of $872.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $839.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 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 given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.27%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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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