AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $2,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 3.3% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 16,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $142.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.59. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $158.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.91. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.57 and a 1 year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.62% and a net margin of 10.45%. On average, analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ATR. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America lowered AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.60.

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.