Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Has $212,000 Stock Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 705 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WST. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 70.1% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 4,976 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after buying an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $27,541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter worth about $1,937,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 15,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of West Pharmaceutical Services 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. This trade represents a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST opened at $314.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.00. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.00 and a 52 week high of $413.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $305.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $316.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 3.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $746.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. West Pharmaceutical Services’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a positive change from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.46%.

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.