West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 42.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,441 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.4% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 875 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% in the 2nd 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 boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings 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 worth $96,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $314.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $265.00 and a twelve month high of $413.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $305.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

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.