New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 53,100 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 48.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,573 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 53,100 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.09% of AptarGroup worth $8,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in AptarGroup by 155.0% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 116.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 603 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $180.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total transaction of $151,657.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,301 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,008,798.42. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $503,646.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,183,433.06. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock valued at $6,983,798 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:ATR traded up $2.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $161.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 450,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 325,772. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.85 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $155.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. 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.