Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Raises Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,803 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of AptarGroup worth $9,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,265,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in 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 worth $74,312,000 after buying an additional 353,935 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 20,143.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 202,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $300,970,000 after acquiring an additional 201,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $22,925,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AptarGroup presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

ATR stock traded down $2.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $149.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 379,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,874. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.85 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.72.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total value of $151,657.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,008,798.42. This trade represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 value of $2,687,686.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798 over the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.