Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 47.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,714 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of AptarGroup worth $5,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in AptarGroup by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in AptarGroup by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in AptarGroup by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Up 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $144.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.85 and a 52 week high of $178.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

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.