Annex Advisory Services LLC Buys 9,800 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Annex Advisory Services raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical by 8.7%, buying 9,800 shares in Q4 to hold 122,958 shares worth about $33.83 million.
• Q4 results and guidance: West beat estimates with EPS of $2.04 (consensus $1.83) and $805 million in revenue, and set FY2026 EPS guidance of 7.850–8.200.
• $1.0 billion share repurchase program authorized (up to ~5.6% of shares), and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 (annualized $0.88, ~0.3% yield).

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.17% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $33,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 410 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 939 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 3.0%

WST stock opened at $267.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 3.02. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.44, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.15. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $193.05 and a fifty-two week high of $322.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.08 and a 200-day moving average of $261.52.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.70 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Zacks Research raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $315.67.

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.

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