Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases Shares of 8,830 AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,387,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $116,265,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AptarGroup by 297.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,312,000 after acquiring an additional 353,935 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,925,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $21,941,000. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR traded down $1.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $155.36. The stock had a trading volume of 47,373 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,974. The business's 50-day moving average price is $148.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.03. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.85 and a 52 week high of $178.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $563,639.44. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,462,748.84. This represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,709 shares of company stock valued at $5,129,410 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $178.60.

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.