Fiera Capital Corp Purchases 145 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,475 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $37,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. LGT Group Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,854,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at about $64,196,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the first quarter valued at about $47,381,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 500,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $198,117,000 after buying an additional 61,247 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $24,136,000. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $308,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $323.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.06, a PEG ratio of 24.91 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $303.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $317.91.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.87%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.