AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Short Interest Update

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 816,900 shares, a drop of 15.3% from the April 30th total of 964,800 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 353,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,606,369.85. This represents a 40.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 40,709 shares of company stock valued at $6,224,840 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATR. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in AptarGroup by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,513 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 703,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $110,490,000 after acquiring an additional 27,614 shares in the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 147.6% during the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in AptarGroup by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James lowered their price target on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

NYSE:ATR traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.26. 264,715 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 312,800. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $130.85 and a 1-year 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 capitalization of $10.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.78.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Research analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

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.