Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $21.92 Million Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 431 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.27% of AptarGroup worth $21,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,146,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $893,565,000 after buying an additional 53,625 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,608,460 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $576,242,000 after purchasing an additional 420,457 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in AptarGroup by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,438,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $177,820,000 after purchasing an additional 21,545 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 19.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,371,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,447,000 after purchasing an additional 225,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,147,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,491,000 after purchasing an additional 101,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR stock opened at $146.38 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.30. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.63 and a 52-week high of $148.51. The stock has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.83%. The business had revenue of $838.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $842.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.21 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 35.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value of $499,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,569.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.84, for a total value of $499,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,774,569.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.67, for a total value of $4,533,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,528,930.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,318,280 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on AptarGroup from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. William Blair upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $160.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday.

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.