West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $1.30 Per Share

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 earnings per share estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report issued on Monday, April 15th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now anticipates that the medical instruments supplier will post earnings per share of $1.30 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.38. 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’ 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 equities analysts also recently commented on WST. KeyCorp raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group reduced 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 research note on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE WST opened at $377.36 on Tuesday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The company has a market capitalization of $27.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.89, a PEG ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $379.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.00. 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 (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company had revenue of $732.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 104,740 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $741,420,000 after purchasing an additional 28,010 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,961,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $690,530,000 after purchasing an additional 369,792 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,719,972 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $404,796,000 after purchasing an additional 12,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 35,627 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,700,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’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 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 $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

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

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.