Blair William & Co. IL Trims Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATR. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 297.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,312,000 after buying an additional 353,935 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 12.6% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,219,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $329,284,000 after buying an additional 247,519 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 20,143.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 202,835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,970,000 after buying an additional 201,833 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,941,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the first quarter valued at about $20,082,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total transaction of $255,312.09. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,135.52. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $563,639.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,748.84. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,585 shares of company stock valued at $2,418,028. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATR. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $172.00 price target (down from $182.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $153.00 price target (down from $173.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $174.60.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of ATR opened at $140.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $153.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.91. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.85 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $966.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.98%.

AptarGroup Profile

AptarGroup, Inc designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments.