Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 1,000 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ATR. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 58.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,248 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,444,000 after purchasing an additional 83,452 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 282.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,024 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of AptarGroup by 2.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $149.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.96 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $149.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.67.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is presently 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.