AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Raised to “Outperform” at William Blair

William Blair upgraded shares of AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

ATR has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday.

AptarGroup Price Performance

AptarGroup stock opened at $145.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $141.35 and a 200-day moving average of $132.53. AptarGroup has a 52-week low of $111.63 and a 52-week high of $148.51.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $838.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.3 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.45, for a total value of $284,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,374,357.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.45, for a total value of $284,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,374,357.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,134 shares of company stock worth $5,990,627 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AptarGroup

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

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.