West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $335.7778.

WST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $320.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Cowen assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 16.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 69,775 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,304,000 after acquiring an additional 10,009 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,610,000. Amundi grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 83.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 502,831 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $111,236,000 after purchasing an additional 228,696 shares during the last quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 34,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $8,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 87.4% in the third quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 136,470 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,800,000 after buying an additional 63,638 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 6.9%

WST opened at $260.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $272.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12 month low of $187.43 and a 12 month high of $348.90.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its 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. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.16% and a net margin of 16.29%.The company had revenue of $804.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $788.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 13.04%.

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.