West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Issues Earnings Results

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.27, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 21.60% and a net margin of 20.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services updated its FY 2024 guidance to 7.630-7.880 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of WST traded down $5.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $362.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 268,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,711. The company has a quick ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.05, a P/E/G ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $377.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $364.29. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, KeyCorp boosted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.20.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,700,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock valued at $26,653,772. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.