ING Groep NV Makes New $609,000 Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

ING Groep NV bought a new position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ATR. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $337,502,000 after purchasing an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 111.0% during the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $151,394,000 after purchasing an additional 565,511 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 1.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 953,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $152,813,000 after purchasing an additional 17,975 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 35.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after purchasing an additional 212,886 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 9.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,917,000 after purchasing an additional 64,288 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,324,977.84. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,499 shares of company stock valued at $6,393,076 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATR has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. 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. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Trading Down 4.4 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $166.49 on Monday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.29 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.25 and its 200-day moving average is $152.27.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 36.14%.

About AptarGroup

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.