AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Sets New 1-Year High at $148.51

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $148.51 and last traded at $145.86, with a volume of 41215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of AptarGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $140.85 and a 200-day moving average of $131.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.24.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $838.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.59%.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total transaction of $4,533,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,528,930.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total transaction of $4,533,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,528,930.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total transaction of $499,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,569.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock worth $5,318,280. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ATR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,855,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 10.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,608,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $576,242,000 after buying an additional 420,457 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in AptarGroup by 43.8% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 744,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $93,111,000 after buying an additional 226,818 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,371,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,447,000 after acquiring an additional 225,296 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 93.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 295,820 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,569,000 after purchasing an additional 142,623 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.