Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 247,519 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 12.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,219,191 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 247,519 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 3.36% of AptarGroup worth $329,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in AptarGroup by 0.4% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 213,461 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $31,673,000 after buying an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in AptarGroup during the first quarter worth about $366,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in AptarGroup during the first quarter worth about $223,000. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 56.2% in the 1st quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 80,864 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $11,999,000 after purchasing an additional 29,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,600 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,760,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.60.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:ATR traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.40. 243,092 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 324,233. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.57.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.15%. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Activity

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 204,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total transaction of $1,095,430.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,606,369.85. The trade was a 40.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.