Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 9.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $16,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 907 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 81.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,910 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 2,698 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,779,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.6% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 792 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.
West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance
WST stock traded up $4.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $308.16. 239,863 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 573,581. The company has a market cap of $22.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.12, a PEG ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $306.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $314.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services's dividend payout ratio is 12.46%.
West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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