AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Bought by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 703,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,614 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $110,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ATR. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,626,000 after acquiring an additional 214,097 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 88.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 230,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,968,000 after acquiring an additional 108,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,444,000 after acquiring an additional 83,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,516,000 after acquiring an additional 82,934 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $144.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $134.57 and a 12 month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 10.45%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 32.49%.

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.