LPL Financial LLC Acquires 6,742 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 42,783 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 6,742 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.06% of AptarGroup worth $6,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATR. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,514,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new position in AptarGroup in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,223,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 58,499 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 32,120 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,046,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ATR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $173.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on 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 cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of AptarGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $190.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.60.

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AptarGroup Price Performance

ATR traded up $3.46 on Friday, reaching $144.22. The company had a trading volume of 203,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 308,223. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.85 and a 52-week high of $178.03. The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $146.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.66.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup's payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

AptarGroup Company 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.