Blue Trust Inc. Has $154,000 Stock Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 446.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in AptarGroup by 312.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 598 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ATR. Raymond James started coverage on AptarGroup in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.60.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ATR opened at $158.41 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $161.04 and its 200 day moving average is $158.90. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.30 and a 12-month high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 36.14%.

AptarGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication 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.