AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Sold by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,401 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors owned approximately 0.15% of AptarGroup worth $15,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its stake in AptarGroup by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 131,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,125,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in AptarGroup by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,299 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in AptarGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in AptarGroup by 214.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,466,000 after purchasing an additional 10,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in AptarGroup by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research 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 company. 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 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $146.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $135.96 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.50, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.98.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. Equities analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

AptarGroup Company 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.