AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Shares Down 1% – Should You Sell?

Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) dropped 1% on Friday . The company traded as low as $149.43 and last traded at $149.60. Approximately 67,619 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 379,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $151.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 target price (down previously from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AptarGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.60.

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AptarGroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 312.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in AptarGroup by 328.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

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.