AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Stock Position Lifted by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,728 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 8,158 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of AptarGroup worth $7,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in AptarGroup by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total transaction of $151,657.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,798.42. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,002,082.64. The trade was a 7.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,095 shares of company stock worth $4,565,770. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James cut their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 target price (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $154.02. 105,574 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 302,748. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $146.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. AptarGroup's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

AptarGroup Company 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.