West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.29% and a net margin of 19.42%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.630-7.880 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $360.43 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $310.42 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $377.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $363.97.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on 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, StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, West Pharmaceutical Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total transaction of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total value of $2,559,380.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.