Cerity Partners LLC Makes New Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in AptarGroup by 272.4% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 16,024 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after purchasing an additional 11,721 shares in the last quarter. Boit C F David purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the fourth quarter worth $376,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in AptarGroup by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,438,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $177,820,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in AptarGroup by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,810 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total value of $4,533,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,528,930.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,500 shares of company stock worth $5,318,280. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE ATR opened at $139.34 on Monday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $111.63 and a fifty-two week high of $145.35. The stock has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $140.55 and a 200-day moving average of $131.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $838.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is currently 38.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 raised AptarGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd.

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.