B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Takes $999,000 Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $218,211.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 1.3 %

WST opened at $316.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $307.01 and its 200 day moving average is $314.28. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.97, a PEG ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.46%.

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.