Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 10,855 AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,855 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in AptarGroup by 328.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in AptarGroup by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 11,329 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.39, for a total value of $1,726,426.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at $31,237,816.54. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total value of $563,639.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,462,748.84. This represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,709 shares of company stock worth $5,129,410. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $158.92. 73,776 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,073. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.85 and a twelve month high of $178.03. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.07. The stock has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price target on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, AptarGroup presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Company 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.