AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Stock Position Lifted by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 27,614 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 1.06% of AptarGroup worth $110,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,919,000 after buying an additional 14,001 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,626,000 after purchasing an additional 214,097 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,444,000 after purchasing an additional 83,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,516,000 after purchasing an additional 82,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $144.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $156.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.59. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.57 and a 1-year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 10.45%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.49%.

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.