Swedbank AB Raises Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 44.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,195 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,220 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew 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 purchasing an additional 15,952 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 53,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $16,133,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST opened at $323.32 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $313.27. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.97, a PEG ratio of 24.15 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.00 and a twelve month high of $413.70. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.46%.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.