Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST - Free Report) by 88.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned about 0.05% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $11,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $27,541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 44.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $16,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.4% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 139.9% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,102,000 after acquiring an additional 5,491 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services
In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance
Shares of WST traded down $2.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $319.27. The stock had a trading volume of 302,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 563,898. The firm has a market cap of $23.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.80, a PEG ratio of 24.47 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $310.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $311.75. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.00 and a 52 week high of $413.70.
West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.
West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services's payout ratio is presently 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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