Champlain Investment Partners LLC Purchases 101,710 Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 444,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,710 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in West Pharmaceutical Services were worth $133,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.3% during the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,941 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 12,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,135,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 703 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,253 shares in the company, valued at $388,931.20. This represents a 35.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $316.59 on Friday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $265.00 and a fifty-two week high of $413.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $307.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.66. The stock has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.24 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued 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. The firm had revenue of $746.90 million during 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 company’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from West Pharmaceutical Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. West Pharmaceutical Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.46%.

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.