AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $147.12 and last traded at $147.04. Approximately 35,400 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 375,370 shares. The stock had previously closed at $146.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America downgraded 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 dropped 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. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $153.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.97.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.24. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.56% and a net margin of 10.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 5th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.49%.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AptarGroup by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,207,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,132,222,000 after purchasing an additional 58,777 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the third 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 period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,481,563 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $389,854,000 after purchasing an additional 617,365 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $248,570,000 after purchasing an additional 40,268 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.