West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 341.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,732 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter worth about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 573.3% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 587.5% in the second quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 220 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.3% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 275 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WST shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Rothschild Redb raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Redburn Partners set a $311.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $349.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST opened at $273.79 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.43 and a fifty-two week high of $348.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $268.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.87.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $804.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.42 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 18.16%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.