AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Upgraded to Outperform at William Blair

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) was upgraded by equities researchers at William Blair from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on AptarGroup from $157.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on AptarGroup from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

AptarGroup stock traded up $3.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $147.23. The company had a trading volume of 82,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,529. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $111.63 and a 12-month high of $148.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $140.97 and its 200-day moving average is $132.16. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $838.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $842.50 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total transaction of $499,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,569.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total value of $4,533,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,528,930.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value of $499,940.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares in the company, valued at $4,774,569.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,500 shares of company stock worth $5,318,280 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ATR. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 8,850.0% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 1,063.3% during the 3rd quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments.