Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Buys New Shares in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,877 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 282.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,024 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,513 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth about $858,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 703,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $110,490,000 after buying an additional 27,614 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction 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 $1,462,748.84. This trade represents a 27.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at $31,002,082.64. This represents a 7.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,709 shares of company stock valued at $5,129,410 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ATR shares. StockNews.com upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE ATR traded up $0.84 on Monday, reaching $157.85. The stock had a trading volume of 185,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,942. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $147.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The company 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 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. The firm's revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.85%.

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.