Analysts Offer Predictions for West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:WST)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now forecasts that the medical instruments supplier will earn $1.97 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.96. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $7.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ Q3 2024 earnings at $2.11 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $2.44 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WST. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE WST traded down $2.12 on Wednesday, reaching $377.36. 355,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 512,566. 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 one year low of $310.42 and a one year high of $415.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a PE ratio of 48.19, a PEG ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $380.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $363.91.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The business had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Copperwynd Financial LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.5% during the first quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 384 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.15%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.