Nuance Investments LLC Purchases 59,088 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Key Points

• Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. by 69% to a total of 144,710 shares, now making up about 1.4% of their portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Victory Capital Management and Northern Trust Corp, also raised their stakes in AptarGroup during the first quarter, highlighting strong institutional interest in the stock.
• AptarGroup announced a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3%, demonstrating the company's commitment to returning cash to shareholders.

Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 69.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,710 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 59,088 shares during the period. AptarGroup accounts for about 1.4% of Nuance Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned about 0.22% of AptarGroup worth $21,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in AptarGroup by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,219,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $329,284,000 after acquiring an additional 247,519 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,139,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $169,094,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,116,612 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $175,420,000 after purchasing an additional 108,321 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 756,352 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $112,228,000 after purchasing an additional 34,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 703,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $104,434,000 after purchasing an additional 105,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATR. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $153.00 target price (down previously from $173.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $172.00 target price (down previously from $182.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.60.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $563,639.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,748.84. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was 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 $5,183,433.06. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,585 shares of company stock worth $2,418,028. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE ATR opened at $140.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.85 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The company has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $153.63 and its 200 day moving average is $150.78.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $966.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $954.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. AptarGroup's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.98%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ATR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.