West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Shares Purchased by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 56% in the first quarter, buying 10,990 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 30,600 shares worth about $7.67 million.
• West Pharmaceutical Services reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $2.13 beating estimates of $1.68 and revenue of $844.9 million topping expectations; revenue also rose 21% year over year.
• Several analysts turned more positive on the stock, including Barclays upgrading WST to overweight with a $400 price target, while the consensus analyst rating remains a Buy.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 10,990 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $7,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bayban purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 100 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $365.87 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.80 and a 1 year high of $367.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $322.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.92. The firm has a market cap of $25.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.91, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.16.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $779.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WST shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays raised West Pharmaceutical Services from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $343.73.

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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