West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Shares Down 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) was down 5.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $263.61 and last traded at $265.0250. Approximately 308,628 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 672,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 20th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research cut West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Monday, December 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $285.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $345.00 price target on West Pharmaceutical Services and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, West Pharmaceutical Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $335.78.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.87.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.29. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.29% and a return on equity of 18.16%. The firm had revenue of $804.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $788.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.060-7.110 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 13.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,704,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,545,899,000 after buying an additional 388,144 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,271,866 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $715,884,000 after purchasing an additional 68,330 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,770,920 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $726,895,000 after purchasing an additional 503,601 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 1,172,583 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $307,604,000 after buying an additional 131,935 shares during the period. Finally, Generation Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter worth approximately $255,072,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc is a global developer and manufacturer of components, systems and services that enable the containment and delivery of injectable drugs. The company focuses on high-quality packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, producing primary drug packaging components and specialized drug delivery devices used for vaccines, biologics and other injectable therapies. West is known for its elastomeric closures, seals and polymer components that maintain sterility and compatibility with sensitive drug formulations.

In addition to component manufacturing, West provides engineered delivery systems and support services across the product lifecycle.