AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 200,571 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 39,982 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $31,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in AptarGroup by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in AptarGroup by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ATR. Bank of America downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.8 %

ATR opened at $143.87 on Friday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a market cap of $9.49 billion, a PE ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. Sell-side analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. 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.