First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 275 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,849 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 97 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 90.0% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 190 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $320.90 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $310.00 and a 1 year high of $415.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.56. The company has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.34, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders 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 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total transaction of $595,404.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total transaction of $595,404.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.