Baron Wealth Management LLC Acquires 132 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 593,692 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $195,556,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 12.7% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 401,026 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $132,095,000 after buying an additional 45,208 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 301,339 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $99,258,000 after buying an additional 26,947 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 11.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 288,639 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $95,075,000 after buying an additional 30,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.5% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 269,675 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $88,828,000 after purchasing an additional 9,156 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $307.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $306.08 and a 200-day moving average of $315.42. The company has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.58, a P/E/G ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a one year low of $265.00 and a one year high of $413.70.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 18.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.