Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly reduced its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. by 72.5%, selling 9,724 shares and ending the quarter with a total of 3,690 shares valued at $548,000.
• AptarGroup reported earnings per share of $1.66 for the recent quarter, surpassing estimates of $1.58, with a revenue of $966.01 million, marking a 6.1% increase from the same period last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, which will be paid on August 14th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% with a payout ratio of 30.98%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 72.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,690 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 9,724 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in AptarGroup by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 42,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,742 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in AptarGroup by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,513 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $248,570,000 after buying an additional 40,268 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth about $416,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth about $3,551,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Down 10.2%

ATR stock traded down $16.04 on Friday, hitting $141.10. 1,012,348 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 339,405. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.85 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average is $155.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.08. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.84% and a return on equity of 15.68%. The firm had revenue of $966.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $954.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. AptarGroup's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given 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 yield of 1.3%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is 30.98%.

Insider Activity

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total transaction of $255,312.09. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,088 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,135.52. The trade was a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This represents a 7.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,680 shares of company stock valued at $6,983,798 in the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ATR shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.60.

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.