Atria Investments Inc Grows Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WST. LGT Group Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $68,854,000. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the second quarter worth about $64,196,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,381,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $132,095,000 after acquiring an additional 45,208 shares during the period. Finally, Intermede Investment Partners Ltd grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Intermede Investment Partners Ltd now owns 248,073 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $98,165,000 after acquiring an additional 42,536 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $344.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The company has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.06, a PEG ratio of 24.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $316.60.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 11.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.