Wells Fargo & Company Increases AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Price Target to $185.00

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $168.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.48% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday.

AptarGroup Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $165.95 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.69. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $120.36 and a 1-year high of $169.65. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $930.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that AptarGroup will post 5.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,692,852.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,857.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 281.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 446.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new position in AptarGroup during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 4,983.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% 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.