Hills Bank & Trust Co Has $443,000 Stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,476 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 191,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,766,000 after purchasing an additional 2,759 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,849 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,127,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 5,807 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,192,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 13,612 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,386,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 9.5% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,029 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $308,700.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $443,400. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 NYSE WST opened at $316.50 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $301.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $319.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.92 billion, a PE ratio of 46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 23.20 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.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.85 EPS 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 the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.87%.

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.