KBC Group NV Sells 7,441 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 42.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,938 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,441 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $2,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 5.5% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,795 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $839,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 3,955 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,187,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 861 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, North Growth Management Ltd. grew its holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services by 18.8% in the third quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 19,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $388,931.20. The trade was a 35.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

Shares of WST stock opened at $314.49 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $265.00 and a 12-month high of $413.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 46.66, a PEG ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 1.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.35. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. This is an increase from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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.