West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) Sets New 1-Year Low at $265.00

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $265.00 and last traded at $271.47, with a volume of 372711 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $323.77.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.81, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $327.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $356.77.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $670.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 20.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $946,030.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of West Pharmaceutical Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $3,170,007,000 after purchasing an additional 104,740 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised 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 in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the fourth quarter worth $300,250,000. 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.