West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WST. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $447.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, June 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.6%

WST opened at $346.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.12. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $223.83 and a 12 month high of $386.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $345.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.38.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.98 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.140-2.240 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.850-9.050 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 337.8% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,323 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $16,373,000 after acquiring an additional 50,402 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 15,678 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 146,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,425,000 after purchasing an additional 27,745 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 130,970 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,826,000 after purchasing an additional 8,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 100.2% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 209,660 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $52,549,000 after purchasing an additional 104,924 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.