Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 4,848 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 15.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,848 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $5,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATR. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 281.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 446.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 4,983.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.52, for a total transaction of $1,054,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,900,950.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AptarGroup news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.52, for a total value of $1,054,944.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,974 shares in the company, valued at $1,900,950.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 1,660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total transaction of $250,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,423,698.65. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,735 shares of company stock worth $7,285,268. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ATR. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of ATR opened at $175.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.62. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.29 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $161.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.52. The firm has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 36.14%.

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.