Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Sells 7,693 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 26.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,480 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,693 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $6,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WST. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 5,087 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,085,000. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 18,586 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,876,000 after acquiring an additional 13,940 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 73.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 29,107 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,636,000 after acquiring an additional 12,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,304,000 after acquiring an additional 10,009 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Evercore decreased their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $314.56.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $243.53 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week 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 capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $243.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.48.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 17.90% and a net margin of 16.06%.The company had revenue of $805.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.96%.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.