Focus Partners Wealth Lowers Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Focus Partners Wealth lowered its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,886 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 19,557 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.05% of AptarGroup worth $5,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 11,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.39, for a total value of $1,726,426.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 204,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,237,816.54. This represents a 5.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 995 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,008,798.42. This represents a 3.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,095 shares of company stock valued at $4,565,770. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (up previously from $162.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James reduced their target price on AptarGroup from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $178.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $152.75 on Thursday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.85 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.05 and a 200-day moving average of $155.52. 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $887.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. AptarGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

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.