State of Michigan Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

State of Michigan Retirement System decreased its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $2,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Huntington National Bank increased its position 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 buying an additional 259 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 328.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $152.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a PE ratio of 27.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.38. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $135.96 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.01.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

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

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.