Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Acquires 7,803 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ATR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 155.0% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock traded down $3.43 on Friday, hitting $150.92. The company had a trading volume of 361,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,505. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.85 and a 52 week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share 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 last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 11,329 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.39, for a total value of $1,726,426.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,237,816.54. This trade represents a 5.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $563,639.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,748.84. This represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James decreased 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.60.

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.