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

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the first quarter worth about $1,937,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 525.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,515,000 after acquiring an additional 15,952 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 19.4% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 9,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST stock opened at $316.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $307.01 and a 200-day moving average of $314.28. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $265.00 and a 12 month high of $413.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.