West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $342.20.

WST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Rothschild Redb raised West Pharmaceutical Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $311.00 target price on the stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE WST opened at $275.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $274.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $252.90. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $187.43 and a 1 year high of $348.90.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $804.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $788.42 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 16.29%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.04%.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,545,899,000 after acquiring an additional 388,144 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after acquiring an additional 68,330 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $726,895,000 after acquiring an additional 503,601 shares in the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 146.8% during the 1st quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,573,119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $352,190,000 after purchasing an additional 935,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $255,072,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.