Park Avenue Securities LLC Reduces Stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 19.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 329 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,077,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $155,053,000 after purchasing an additional 5,089 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 111.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,394,000 after acquiring an additional 565,511 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after acquiring an additional 212,886 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in AptarGroup by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,917,000 after acquiring an additional 64,288 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 646,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,092,000 after purchasing an additional 12,533 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $163.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday.

AptarGroup Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of ATR opened at $167.16 on Tuesday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.36 and a twelve month high of $167.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.39.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. AptarGroup had a net margin of 9.00% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The business had revenue of $910.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $930.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. AptarGroup’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.63%.

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

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total value of $4,721,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,692,852.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total value of $4,721,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,692,852.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total transaction of $117,248.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,174 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,956,701.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.