Cerity Partners LLC Sells 1,132 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,344 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,132 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $3,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ATR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 155.0% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 278 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter worth about $75,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 116.9% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in AptarGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $97,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $156.40 on Friday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.85 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its 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. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 15.10%. The business had revenue of $887.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.49, for a total transaction of $1,095,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,606,369.85. This represents a 40.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $503,646.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 33,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,183,433.06. This trade represents a 8.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 45,680 shares of company stock worth $6,983,798. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ATR. Wall Street Zen raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on AptarGroup from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $180.60.

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.