B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 9.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,353 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in AptarGroup in the third quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 281.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 312.0% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in AptarGroup by 79.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR opened at $158.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $169.50 and a 200 day moving average of $155.99. The firm has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. AptarGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $122.29 and a one year high of $178.03.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.14%.

AptarGroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.