ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,717 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,706 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.30% of AptarGroup worth $31,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AptarGroup stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $156.33. 74,715 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 306,103. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $148.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.10. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.85 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. AptarGroup's payout ratio is 32.85%.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 3,614 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,462,748.84. The trade was a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This represents a 7.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,709 shares of company stock worth $5,129,410. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ATR. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.