West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp trimmed its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 93.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 23,805 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,511,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 116,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,175,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $319.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.38, a P/E/G ratio of 24.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $307.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $313.59. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.00 and a 1-year high of $413.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $746.90 million for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Analysts predict 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. Stockholders 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 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

About West Pharmaceutical Services

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.