West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Price Target Raised to $275.00

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) had its target price upped by Barclays from $265.00 to $275.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

WST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Evercore lowered their price target on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $390.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.67.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.1%

WST opened at $269.31 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.15. West Pharmaceutical Services has a twelve month low of $193.05 and a twelve month high of $322.34. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $248.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.61.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $805.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.70 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 16.06% and a return on equity of 17.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.850-8.200 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.96%.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 410 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 905 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.