West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.27 EPS

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of WST opened at $360.43 on Friday. 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 has a 12 month low of $310.42 and a 12 month high of $415.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $377.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.97. The firm has a market cap of $26.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.04.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend 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

WST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at $469,695.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $709,708.98. 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. Company 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.