Darwin Wealth Management LLC Invests $104,000 in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 348 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $104,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,541,000 after buying an additional 2,037 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter valued at $1,937,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 525.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,515,000 after buying an additional 15,952 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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

NYSE:WST opened at $311.67 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $306.23 and its 200 day moving average is $314.97. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 46.24, a PEG ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.00. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 12.46%.

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.