Magnetar Financial LLC Trims Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Magnetar Financial LLC trimmed its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 92.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,106 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 36,097 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in AptarGroup by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its position in AptarGroup by 3.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in AptarGroup by 9.3% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in AptarGroup by 0.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AptarGroup in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $180.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.60.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $145.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.95. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $135.96 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.78.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 15.56%. Research analysts expect that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

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.