Haverford Trust Co Acquires 73 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 861 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $132,095,000 after purchasing an additional 45,208 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,339 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,258,000 after buying an additional 26,947 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 288,639 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $95,075,000 after buying an additional 30,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 269,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $88,828,000 after buying an additional 9,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $338.12 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $265.00 and a 52-week high of $413.70. The company has a market cap of $24.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.17, a P/E/G ratio of 26.01 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $305.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.75.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released 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 during 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%. 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 firm posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. 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 dividend yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $308,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,400. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.