Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 2,363 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,363 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $4,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Bayban acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 156.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, July 6th. KeyCorp increased their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $363.17.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.0%

WST stock opened at $358.77 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $332.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $284.80. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.80 and a 52 week high of $367.66. The company has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 47.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.16.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The business’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total value of $269,400.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 1,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $457,920.41. The trade was a 37.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total value of $859,748.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 16,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,135,905.60. This trade represents a 14.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.