West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,404 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $8,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,511,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $351,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 1,454 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total transaction of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE WST opened at $323.32 on Thursday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $313.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.97, a PEG ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. 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. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.