AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Bought by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 55.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 282.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 5,024 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in AptarGroup by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 9,513 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $143.87 on Friday. 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 $9.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day moving average is $145.57 and its 200-day moving average is $157.27. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.85 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (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 expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 1.25%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.