AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Purchased by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 56.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 29,086 shares during the period. AptarGroup makes up approximately 2.5% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned 0.12% of AptarGroup worth $11,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,132,222,000 after buying an additional 58,777 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 33.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $248,570,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,208,753 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $189,895,000 after purchasing an additional 50,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in 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 worth $169,094,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total transaction of $255,312.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,694,135.52. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 33,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,183,433.06. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $155.09. 261,876 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 324,375. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $155.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.42. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 32.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ATR. Wall Street Zen upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $180.00.

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.