Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,059 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

NYSE:WST opened at $319.35 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $23.13 billion, a PE ratio of 47.38, a P/E/G ratio of 23.91 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $307.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.59. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.00 and a 1-year high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.26%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.53% 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.