West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 7.630-7.880 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 7.620. The company issued revenue guidance of $3.0 billion-$3.0 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $3.0 billion.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WST. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $435.20.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $385.73 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.95, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.04. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1-year low of $310.42 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $377.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $364.26.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $732.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $740.43 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 21.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.77 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.15%.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the company’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 transaction of $724,053.78. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares in the company, valued at $709,708.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Silji Abraham sold 7,012 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.00, for a total transaction of $2,559,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,660 shares in the company, valued at $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 worth $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.