South Dakota Investment Council Invests $1.10 Million in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

South Dakota Investment Council bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,903 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,101,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 1,063.3% in the third quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the third quarter worth about $50,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 39.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 699 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.45, for a total transaction of $284,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,374,357.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total value of $4,533,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,528,930.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.45, for a total transaction of $284,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,648 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,374,357.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,318,280. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR traded up $3.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $143.28. 489,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,108. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.63 and a 1-year high of $148.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $140.85 and a 200-day moving average of $131.98. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. AptarGroup had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The firm had revenue of $838.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $842.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ATR shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th.

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.