Raymond James Financial Issues Positive Forecast for AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Stock Price

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Raymond James Financial from $175.00 to $182.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James Financial currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price target (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $180.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

ATR stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $156.40. 243,092 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 324,671. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.42. The company has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $130.85 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $894.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 24th. AptarGroup's payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total transaction of $1,095,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,369.85. This trade represents a 40.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 owned 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,357,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,234 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,908 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 130,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

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.