Wells Fargo & Company Raises AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Price Target to $185.00

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $168.00 to $185.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Separately, 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 research report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AptarGroup has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.00.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of AptarGroup stock opened at $168.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $148.02. AptarGroup has a 12-month low of $120.36 and a 12-month high of $169.65.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $910.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $930.15 million. AptarGroup had a net margin of 9.00% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Research analysts expect that AptarGroup will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, CFO Robert Kuhn sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total transaction of $30,036.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 65,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,844,599.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,430,672.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Kuhn sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total transaction of $30,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,552 shares in the company, valued at $9,844,599.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,077,577 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $155,053,000 after purchasing an additional 5,089 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 111.0% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after acquiring an additional 212,886 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,917,000 after acquiring an additional 64,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 646,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,092,000 after acquiring an additional 12,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

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.