Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its West Pharmaceutical Services stake by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, while institutional ownership in the company remains very high at 93.90%.
• Several insiders sold shares on April 27, including VP Annette F. Favorite and CAO Chad Winters, reducing their ownership positions.
• West Pharmaceutical Services reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.13 and revenue of $844.9 million both beating estimates, while the stock also rose 3.1% to $322.27 and sits near its 52-week high.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 502,686 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 5,879 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.70% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $138,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the third quarter worth about $49,085,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 83,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $21,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,087 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 14,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,122,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477 shares in the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 152,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $41,862,000 after buying an additional 15,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 559.8% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,620,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total transaction of $859,748.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,135,905.60. This represents a 14.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total value of $269,400.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $457,920.41. This trade represents a 37.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $322.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:WST opened at $322.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.77 billion, a PE ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $281.89 and a 200-day moving average of $267.33. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.10 and a 52 week high of $330.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $844.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $779.68 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 16.85%.The business's revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. 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. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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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