West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Shares Acquired by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,647 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $7,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 104,740 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,589 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $741,420,000 after acquiring an additional 28,010 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,961,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $690,530,000 after acquiring an additional 369,792 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,414,431 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $498,049,000 after acquiring an additional 109,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth about $300,250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total value of $24,198,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total value of $595,404.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,030.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.65, for a total transaction of $24,198,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

WST traded down $1.84 on Tuesday, reaching $316.18. 770,399 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,739. The stock has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.00 and a twelve month high of $415.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $327.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $357.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $695.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.25%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 10.55%.

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.