West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services in a note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now anticipates that the medical instruments supplier will earn $1.30 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.38. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services' current full-year earnings is $7.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services' FY2024 earnings at $7.55 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.86 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.01 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.16 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.99 EPS.
Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WST. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $435.20.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on WST
West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.2 %
Shares of NYSE WST traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $379.48. The company had a trading volume of 491,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 515,837. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52 week low of $310.42 and a 52 week high of $415.73. The business's 50-day moving average is $380.70 and its 200-day moving average is $363.91. The stock has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.04.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share.
West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is currently 10.15%.
Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services
In related news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total transaction of $292,438.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,002,632 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,170,007,000 after purchasing an additional 104,740 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $741,420,000 after acquiring an additional 28,010 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,961,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $690,530,000 after acquiring an additional 369,792 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,719,972 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $404,796,000 after acquiring an additional 12,228 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,542,451 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $533,210,000 after acquiring an additional 35,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company's stock.
About West Pharmaceutical Services
(
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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.
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