M&T Bank Corp Buys 108,013 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical by 523.7% in Q4, purchasing 108,013 shares to hold 128,638 shares (about 0.18% of the company) worth roughly $35.4 million.
• West Pharmaceutical beat quarterly expectations with $2.04 EPS vs. $1.83 estimate and $805 million revenue (up 7.5% year-over-year) and set FY2026 guidance of 7.85–8.20 EPS.
• The board authorized a $1.00 billion share repurchase program (up to ~5.6% of outstanding shares) and declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.88, ~0.3% yield).

M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 523.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 108,013 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned approximately 0.18% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $35,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,545,899,000 after buying an additional 388,144 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $715,884,000 after buying an additional 68,330 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $726,895,000 after buying an additional 503,601 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,172,583 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $307,604,000 after buying an additional 131,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 125,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:WST opened at $274.59 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $199.89 and a one year high of $322.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.77.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.21. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 17.90%. The business had revenue of $805.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 12.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $340.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One research 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.com, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate 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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