Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 34,573 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 43.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 34,573 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $18,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 2.3% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 3.6% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,361 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 6.1% in the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 1,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 25.0% in the second quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE ATR opened at $166.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.57. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $163.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.46. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03.

AptarGroup announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Kuhn sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total value of $30,036.00. Following the completion of 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 0.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,499 shares of company stock valued at $6,393,076 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.