Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 30,253 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,639 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,253 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.40% of West Pharmaceutical Services worth $95,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Evoke Wealth LLC bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $7,770,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 191,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,766,000 after buying an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,002,632 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,170,007,000 after buying an additional 104,740 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 142.3% during the first quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 29,628 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,724,000 after buying an additional 17,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 138,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $48,750,000 after acquiring an additional 39,392 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,400. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST stock opened at $309.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 40.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $336.46.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Company 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.