West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Receives $314.56 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $314.5556.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WST shares. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, February 13th. 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 objective on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $325.00 to $265.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $231.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $250.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.81. West Pharmaceutical Services has a 52-week low of $187.43 and a 52-week high of $322.34. The company has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 17th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 146,872 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $40,425,000 after buying an additional 27,745 shares during the last quarter. Bayban bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $612,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,174,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $323,280,000 after purchasing an additional 473,547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 908,625 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $249,999,000 after purchasing an additional 27,340 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.