New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 6,827 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 110,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,827 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $17,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Creative Planning grew its stake in AptarGroup by 13.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,889 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in AptarGroup by 0.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 131,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,125,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in AptarGroup by 266.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 639 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in AptarGroup by 22.2% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AptarGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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 target price on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.3 %

ATR stock opened at $146.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.92. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.96 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. Analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 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.