California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 40,481,855 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. $WST

California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 36,590.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,592,489 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,481,855 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.58% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $14,572,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 105 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bayban bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth $28,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WST. Zacks Research downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $310.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $375.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WST stock opened at $339.90 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $223.83 and a 12-month high of $386.00. The company has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 43.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $350.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $308.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $872.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.98 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.11% and a net margin of 16.98%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $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. As a group, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 8.93 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.27%.

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.