Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,140 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 175,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,140 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $28,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ATR. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 43.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,182,000 after purchasing an additional 34,573 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,066,000 after acquiring an additional 12,271 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after acquiring an additional 212,886 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in AptarGroup by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 646,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $91,092,000 after acquiring an additional 12,533 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 29.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total value of $5,088,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at $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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ATR stock opened at $170.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.28. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.29 and a 52 week high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. 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 announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th were given a $0.45 dividend. 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 1.06%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.