Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,633 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $728,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 328.4% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total transaction of $151,657.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,798.42. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,095 shares of company stock valued at $4,565,770. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATR has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ATR traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.41. The company had a trading volume of 91,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,699. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.88. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. AptarGroup's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

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.