EULAV Asset Management Raises Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

EULAV Asset Management raised its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,228 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,103 shares during the quarter. AptarGroup makes up 1.1% of EULAV Asset Management's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. EULAV Asset Management owned approximately 0.47% of AptarGroup worth $45,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in AptarGroup by 155.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in AptarGroup by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in AptarGroup by 116.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in AptarGroup by 310.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 591 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ATR. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $178.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $503,646.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 33,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,183,433.06. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total value of $255,312.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,694,135.52. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock valued at $6,983,798. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:ATR traded down $0.02 on Monday, hitting $161.02. 313,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 322,755. The stock has a market cap of $10.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $154.21 and a 200-day moving average of $151.36. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.85%.

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.