Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 328.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total transaction of $151,657.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,798.42. The trade was a 3.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,687,686.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,095 shares of company stock worth $4,565,770 in the last three months. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

AptarGroup stock opened at $152.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $155.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. AptarGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $130.85 and a one year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. AptarGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reduced their price objective on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective (up from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup 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.