Pitcairn Co. Buys 4,328 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 475.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,239 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,328 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of WST opened at $316.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.97, a PEG ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $307.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.28. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.00 and a twelve month high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

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