Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,245 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,263 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $52,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WST. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $88,227,000. LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,854,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,196,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 659,560 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $232,244,000 after acquiring an additional 183,153 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 597,106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,281,000 after purchasing an additional 139,800 shares during the period. 93.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,478 shares in the company, valued at $443,400. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 2.1 %

WST opened at $303.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.01. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $302.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $336.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $702.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $729.36 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 19.17% and a net margin of 18.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s quarterly revenue was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.