Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $921,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 56.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,067 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WST. Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 3.4% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 875 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.7% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,495 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,779,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during 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 that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.40, for a total value of $218,211.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Down 7.0 %

Shares of WST opened at $314.49 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.00 and a 52 week high of $413.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.66, a PEG ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $305.97 and a 200-day moving average of $316.18.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $709.62 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.41% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

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