Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 1,282 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,282 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ATR. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 111.0% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,394,000 after purchasing an additional 565,511 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 953,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,813,000 after buying an additional 17,975 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 35.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,395,000 after acquiring an additional 212,886 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 9.9% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in AptarGroup in the third quarter worth about $108,239,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ATR shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $174.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.15. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.14%.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total value of $209,742.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,430,672.66. This trade represents a 12.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,535 shares of company stock worth $6,230,324 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.