West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Bought by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,002,632 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,170,007,000 after purchasing an additional 104,740 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $741,420,000 after purchasing an additional 28,010 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,961,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $690,530,000 after acquiring an additional 369,792 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,414,431 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $498,049,000 after acquiring an additional 109,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $300,250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total value of $595,404.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total value of $595,404.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total transaction of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $331.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $310.00 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $346.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $361.21.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $695.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

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.