West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Stock Price Down 3.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) traded down 3.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $318.71 and last traded at $318.71. 154,888 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 557,395 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.65.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.78.

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 $1.51 by $0.34. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 18.25% and a return on equity of 19.17%. The business had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.42 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is 11.08%.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 1,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WST. Findlay Park Partners LLP lifted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 30.6% in the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 597,106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,281,000 after acquiring an additional 139,800 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 500,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $198,117,000 after purchasing an additional 61,247 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $132,095,000 after buying an additional 45,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,339 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $99,258,000 after buying an additional 26,947 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% 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.