First Trust Advisors LP Sells 16,216 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,837 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,216 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.15% of AptarGroup worth $15,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AptarGroup by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,621,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,906,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock traded down $1.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $148.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 229,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,836. AptarGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $130.85 and a one year high of $178.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The business's fifty day moving average price is $146.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.55.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.60.

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.