Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 988,737 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $272,041,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $3,460,000. National Pension Service increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,158 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,520,000 after buying an additional 5,178 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $3,027,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,869,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $512,250,000 after buying an additional 11,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total value of $859,748.40. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 16,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,135,905.60. This trade represents a 14.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total value of $269,400.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,920.41. This represents a 37.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $331.91.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WST opened at $312.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.18. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.19 and a 52 week high of $330.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $267.94.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $844.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.