Farringdon Capital Ltd. Takes $526,000 Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,346 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 12.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in AptarGroup by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.6% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,906,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ATR traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $148.11. The stock had a trading volume of 169,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,743. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $156.94. The firm has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $173.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.60.

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.