Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.22 Million Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 5.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,619 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $300,250,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,961,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $690,530,000 after buying an additional 369,792 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the 4th quarter worth $88,227,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 659,560 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $232,244,000 after buying an additional 183,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 457,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $161,027,000 after buying an additional 180,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.78, for a total transaction of $595,404.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $946,030.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $946,030.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Eric Mark Green sold 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 152,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,063,718.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Price Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock traded up $5.47 during trading on Monday, reaching $290.23. 312,764 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 561,764. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.34. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $265.00 and a 1-year high of $415.73. The company has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $324.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $355.78.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $702.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $729.36 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 19.17% and a net margin of 18.25%. The company’s revenue was down 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services 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.