Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 165,775 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in West Pharmaceutical by 1.7% (sold 165,775 shares), leaving it with 9,539,173 shares — a 13.26% ownership valued at about $2.6246 billion.
• West reported a strong quarter, beating estimates with $2.13 EPS vs $1.68 and revenue of $844.9M (up 21% YoY), and set FY2026 guidance of $8.40–$8.75 EPS with Q2 guidance of $2.05–$2.12.
• The board authorized a $1.00 billion share buyback (up to 5.6% of shares) and declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend, while analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $322.89 price target.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,539,173 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 165,775 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.26% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $2,624,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 300.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 38,157 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $10,499,000 after purchasing an additional 28,626 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 523.7% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 128,638 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $35,393,000 after purchasing an additional 108,013 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $6,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,324 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $322.89.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST opened at $292.67 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $202.79 and a 12-month high of $322.34. The stock has a market cap of $20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.13, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $255.14 and a 200-day moving average of $262.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.45. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 16.85%.The company had revenue of $844.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $779.68 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.76%.

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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