Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. Sells 163 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,041 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $8,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% in 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 buying an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 111.0% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,394,000 after buying an additional 565,511 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 1.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 953,950 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,813,000 after buying an additional 17,975 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 35.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,395,000 after buying an additional 212,886 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 9.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 716,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $100,917,000 after buying an additional 64,288 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $175.76. 18,254 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 290,779. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.62. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.29 and a twelve month high of $178.03.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 36.14%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ATR shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Robert Kuhn sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.18, for a total transaction 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 approximately $9,844,599.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,735 shares of company stock valued at $7,285,268. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.