BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Has $13.82 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments lowered its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,900 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments’ holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $13,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,545,899,000 after buying an additional 388,144 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $715,884,000 after buying an additional 68,330 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $726,895,000 after buying an additional 503,601 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,869,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $512,250,000 after buying an additional 11,962 shares during the period. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,172,583 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $307,604,000 after purchasing an additional 131,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on WST. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $331.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total transaction of $859,748.40. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 approximately $457,920.41. This trade represents a 37.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $319.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $292.30 and its 200-day moving average is $269.75. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.80 and a 52-week high of $330.88. 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 cap of $22.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.78, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.18.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.45. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.85% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The business had revenue of $844.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $779.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. The firm’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. Equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.