SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,101 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in AptarGroup by 155.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in AptarGroup by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in AptarGroup by 310.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 591 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $150.14. 570,488 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 318,560. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $152.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.09. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.85 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market cap of $9.92 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of AptarGroup 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,183,433.06. The trade was a 8.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of AptarGroup 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,002,082.64. The trade was a 7.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

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.