Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 108,175 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 88.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,775 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,175 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $36,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in AptarGroup by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,406,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the third quarter worth $356,000. EULAV Asset Management increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 26.7% in the third quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 229,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,768,000 after purchasing an additional 48,399 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 3.3% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in 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 worth $185,516,000 after purchasing an additional 82,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ATR stock opened at $171.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.01. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.14%.

AptarGroup announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,639 shares of company stock worth $5,960,841. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AptarGroup 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.