West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by National Pension Service

National Pension Service reduced its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,440 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,879 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.15% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $32,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WST. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 142.3% during the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 29,628 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $11,724,000 after purchasing an additional 17,399 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.4% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,365 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,893,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 70.1% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 4,976 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the first quarter worth $1,937,000. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $308,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WST traded up $1.86 on Friday, hitting $325.28. 333,501 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,282. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.91 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $303.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $318.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.87%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.