BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Sells 4,617 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 4.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 108,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,617 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $17,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATR. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in AptarGroup by 6.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,081,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AptarGroup during the first quarter worth $269,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in AptarGroup by 53.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,596 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,530,412.80. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shiela Vinczeller sold 1,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.15, for a total value of $250,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,423,698.65. This trade represents a 6.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,299 shares of company stock worth $6,363,040 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $171.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.99.

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

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 36.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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