West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) to Post Q1 2023 Earnings of $1.81 Per Share, Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) – Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group issued their Q1 2023 earnings per share estimates for shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst D. Windley forecasts that the medical instruments supplier will post earnings of $1.81 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $8.18 per share. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ Q2 2023 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $2.05 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $8.92 EPS.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by ($0.09). West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $686.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.64 million.

WST has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $385.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Friday, October 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $315.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 2nd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $266.25.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $258.33 on Wednesday. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $206.19 and a twelve month high of $424.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $238.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $266.35. The company has a market capitalization of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 3.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 25th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 24th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.99, for a total transaction of $10,515,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 114,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,465,208.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On West Pharmaceutical Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WST. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 40.5% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,742,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $428,787,000 after buying an additional 502,186 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 56.6% in the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 853,248 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $257,997,000 after buying an additional 308,549 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 24.1% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,216,793 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $299,428,000 after buying an additional 236,270 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4,022.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 202,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,079,000 after buying an additional 197,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Durable Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.7% during the third quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,179,447 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $290,238,000 after purchasing an additional 185,411 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following business segments: Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products. The Proprietary Products segment offers proprietary packaging, containment and drug delivery products, along with analytical lab services, to biologic, generic and pharmaceutical drug customers.