MV Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

MV Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 15.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $59,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 1.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 4.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 147.6% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in AptarGroup by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James decreased their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.60.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 1,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.79, for a total value of $255,312.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,135.52. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 11,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.39, for a total transaction of $1,726,426.31. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,237,816.54. The trade was a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798 over the last quarter. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $151.92 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.41. The stock has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.42, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.85 and a 12 month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.85%.

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.