Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 307,245 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 8,226 shares during the period. AptarGroup makes up about 3.4% of Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC owned 0.47% of AptarGroup worth $45,589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,132,222,000 after acquiring an additional 58,777 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 33.1% in the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AptarGroup by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $248,570,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,753 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $189,895,000 after purchasing an additional 50,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AptarGroup by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,116,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $175,420,000 after buying an additional 108,321 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ATR. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $150.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.85 and a 52-week high of $178.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $151.15 and a 200-day moving average of $153.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The business had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,002,082.64. This represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $503,646.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,963 shares in the company, valued at $5,183,433.06. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.

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