Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 269 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 415,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $66,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in AptarGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 446.5% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 281.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in AptarGroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $171.73 on Friday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.29 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.57. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.62.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were given 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 (DPR) is currently 36.14%.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total value of $500,346.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,165 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,857.30. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $29,530,412.80. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,639 shares of company stock worth $5,960,841 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.