Beck Bode LLC Cuts Stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Beck Bode LLC reduced its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,146,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $893,565,000 after acquiring an additional 53,625 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,608,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $576,242,000 after acquiring an additional 420,457 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in AptarGroup by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,438,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $177,820,000 after buying an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in AptarGroup by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $143,491,000 after purchasing an additional 101,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair raised shares of AptarGroup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

ATR traded up $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $145.30. 14,165 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 323,827. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $141.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.44. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.63 and a 1-year high of $148.51.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $838.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $842.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.3 earnings per share for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is presently 35.19%.

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.