Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $1.52 Million Position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,054 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 435 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 54.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,574 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,738 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,937,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 525.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,515,000 after acquiring an additional 15,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.3% during the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 11,651 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $307.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $306.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $315.42. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.27%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is currently 12.46%.

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.