Wells Fargo & Company Lowers AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Price Target to $180.00

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $185.00 to $180.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

ATR has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Dbs Bank raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $188.25.

AptarGroup Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $152.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $167.20 and a 200 day moving average of $156.91. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $122.37 and a 12-month high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.14%.

AptarGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the third quarter worth $108,239,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in AptarGroup by 111.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 565,511 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in AptarGroup by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 538,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $86,315,000 after purchasing an additional 347,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in AptarGroup by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $298,626,000 after purchasing an additional 214,097 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.