Natixis Advisors LLC Has $19.22 Million Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup, owning 129,527 shares valued at approximately $19.22 million, after acquiring an additional 8,432 shares in the first quarter.
• Recent analyst upgrades for AptarGroup include a price target increase from $175 to $182 by Raymond James and an overall consensus rating of "Buy" with a price target of $180.60.
• AptarGroup announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 30.98%.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 129,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 8,432 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.20% of AptarGroup worth $19,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ATR. FMR LLC grew its stake in AptarGroup by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $389,854,000 after acquiring an additional 617,365 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in AptarGroup by 297.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $74,312,000 after buying an additional 353,935 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AptarGroup by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,219,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $329,284,000 after buying an additional 247,519 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 201,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $21,941,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $153.00 price target (down from $173.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $172.00 price target (down previously from $182.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $174.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

NYSE ATR traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $138.57. 515,319 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,488. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $155.05 and a 200-day moving average of $151.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. AptarGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $130.85 and a one year high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.08. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The business had revenue of $966.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $954.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 30.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $503,646.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,183,433.06. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total value of $563,639.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,462,748.84. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,585 shares of company stock valued at $2,418,028 in the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About AptarGroup

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.