West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Price Target Raised to $325.00 at Morgan Stanley

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $315.00 to $325.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.52% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set 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. 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. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded down $1.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $320.14. The company had a trading volume of 136,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 938,758. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $206.10 and a 1 year high of $330.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The company has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.33.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $844.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.68 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 8.6 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 $457,920.41. This trade represents a 37.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total transaction of $859,748.40. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 16,828 shares in the company, valued at $5,135,905.60. The trade was a 14.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WST. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,085,000. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 83,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $21,791,000 after buying an additional 5,087 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 14,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,122,000 after buying an additional 4,477 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 152,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $41,862,000 after buying an additional 15,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 559.8% during the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,620,000 after buying an additional 8,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

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.