Bank of America Corp DE Grows Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 297.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 473,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 353,935 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.71% of AptarGroup worth $74,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in AptarGroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATR has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,095 shares of company stock valued at $4,565,770 in the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR stock traded up $2.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $157.11. 278,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,598. The firm's 50-day moving average is $147.14 and its 200 day moving average is $155.42. The company has a market capitalization of $10.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. 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.