West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $315.67 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $322.8889.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WST shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Annette F. Favorite sold 2,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.20, for a total transaction of $859,748.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 16,828 shares in the company, valued at $5,135,905.60. The trade was a 14.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Chad Winters sold 896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.67, for a total transaction of $269,400.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $457,920.41. This trade represents a 37.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth $25,000. Bayban purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 156.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WST stock opened at $300.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $257.16 and a 200-day moving average of $263.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 12-month low of $202.79 and a 12-month high of $322.34. The firm has a market cap of $21.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.18, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.17.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.45. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.85% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The company had revenue of $844.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $779.68 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.400-8.750 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.120 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 11.76%.

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.