West Pharmaceutical Services cut its annual profit and sales forecast on Thursday, on lower demand for its medical equipment used in making injectable drugs as biotech customers worked through their existing inventories.
West Pharmaceutical's (WST) second-quarter 2024 results are likely to reflect strength in its Proprietary Products business. However, unfavorable currency movements might have hurt the top and bottom lines.
West Pharmaceutical (WST) continues to gain momentum due to its strength in the Proprietary Products business. However, forex concerns persist.
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST – Free Report) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note issued on Thursday, May 16th. Zacks Research analyst I. Bandyopadhyay now expects that the medical instruments supplier will post earnings per share of $1.77 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.97. The consensus estimate for West Pharmaceutical Services’ current full-year earnings is $7.76 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for West Pharmaceutical Services’ Q3 2024 earnings at $2.10 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $7.66 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.42 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.06 EPS. Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.20. Read Our Latest Report on West Pharmaceutical Services West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.4 % NYSE:WST opened at $355.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $378.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $364.18. West Pharmaceutical Services has a fifty-two week low of $310.42 and a fifty-two week high of $415.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.90 billion, a PE ratio of 46.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.05. West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 20.57% and a net margin of 19.42%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%. Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at $56,063,718.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.82, for a total value of $292,438.30. Following the sale, 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total transaction of $24,198,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,978 shares of company stock valued at $50,852,672 in the last three months. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 155.3% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 97 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile (Get Free Report) 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.