West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $435.20 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $435.20.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WST shares. StockNews.com lowered West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group decreased 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $536.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 2,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.62, for a total value of $724,053.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $709,708.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $469,695.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,978 shares of company stock worth $26,653,772 in the last ninety days. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 50.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,806 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,679,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.7% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,399 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,528,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 64,397 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,035 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of WST opened at $365.02 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $377.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 2.61. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 1 year low of $310.42 and a 1 year high of $415.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 1.05.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced 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 net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The firm had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

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.