Bank of America Downgrades AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) to Neutral

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) was downgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $173.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company 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 increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $189.50.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $155.50 on Monday. AptarGroup has a 12 month low of $122.37 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $167.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.79.

AptarGroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback program 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 reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $462,919,000 after purchasing an additional 14,001 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in AptarGroup by 29.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after buying an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 13.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $298,626,000 after buying an additional 214,097 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $245,444,000 after buying an additional 83,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 7.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 82,934 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.