Elefante Mark B Invests $3.47 Million in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Elefante Mark B bought a new stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 22,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,472,000. AptarGroup accounts for about 3.2% of Elefante Mark B’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $116,265,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in AptarGroup by 297.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 473,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,312,000 after acquiring an additional 353,935 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,925,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,941,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATR has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $170.00 price target (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $178.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 17,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,687,686.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 204,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,002,082.64. This trade represents a 7.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.42, for a total value of $151,657.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,301 shares in the company, valued at $4,008,798.42. This represents a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,095 shares of company stock worth $4,565,770 in the last 90 days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AptarGroup Price Performance

AptarGroup stock opened at $153.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $146.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.85 and a 12-month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. AptarGroup’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 32.85%.

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.