AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Shares Bought by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,879 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $8,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATR. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 111.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 565,511 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 17,975 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 35.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after buying an additional 212,886 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 646,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,092,000 after acquiring an additional 12,533 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other AptarGroup news, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total transaction of $209,742.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,672.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Xiangwei Gong sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.56, for a total transaction of $117,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,174 shares in the company, valued at $2,956,701.44. This 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 link. Also, insider Hedi Tlili sold 1,375 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.54, for a total value of $209,742.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,430,672.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,457 shares of company stock worth $2,592,110 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ATR traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $167.78. The company had a trading volume of 17,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,546. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.85 and a 1-year high of $171.41.

AptarGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. 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 38.63%.

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.