Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 580 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 580 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 3rd 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $337,502,000 after acquiring an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 13.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,626,000 after acquiring an additional 214,097 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,444,000 after purchasing an additional 83,452 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $185,516,000 after purchasing an additional 82,934 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 note on Monday, October 28th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $195.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total value of $5,088,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $170.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $169.33 and a 200-day moving average of $155.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.29 and a 12 month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.14%.

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

AptarGroup Company 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.