AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the four research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AptarGroup from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Insider Activity

In other AptarGroup news, Director George L. Fotiades sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total transaction of $1,220,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,962 shares in the company, valued at $637,418.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director George L. Fotiades sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.46, for a total value of $1,220,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $637,418.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 2,989 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.23, for a total transaction of $374,312.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,174,532.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ATR. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,608,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $576,242,000 after purchasing an additional 420,457 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 5.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,159,250 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,224,000 after acquiring an additional 171,060 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,416,897 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $177,169,000 after acquiring an additional 29,503 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in AptarGroup by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,371,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,447,000 after acquiring an additional 225,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167,108 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,864,000 after purchasing an additional 57,501 shares in the last quarter. 88.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $127.32 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $124.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $101.50 and a 1-year high of $133.79.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $893.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $889.92 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 8.16%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 26th were paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 25th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 38.95%.

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 three segments: Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures.