Insider Selling: West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) VP Sells $859,748.40 in Stock

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) VP Annette Favorite sold 2,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $5,135,905.60. This trade represents a 14.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $300.55 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $202.79 and a one year high of $322.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $257.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $263.24. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.17.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $844.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $779.68 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.85% and a return on equity of 19.03%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. 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 analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.76%.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $272,041,000. Generation Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 1,561,869 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $429,733,000 after buying an additional 585,855 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $726,895,000 after buying an additional 503,601 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $323,280,000 after buying an additional 473,547 shares during the period. Finally, Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter worth $123,667,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.