AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 529,200 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the November 30th total of 422,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 282,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,324,977.84. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AptarGroup

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,919,000 after purchasing an additional 14,001 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,106,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $337,502,000 after acquiring an additional 479,193 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 13.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $298,626,000 after buying an additional 214,097 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,515,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $245,444,000 after buying an additional 83,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in AptarGroup by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $185,516,000 after acquiring an additional 82,934 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ATR stock opened at $157.40 on Tuesday. AptarGroup has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.58.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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 analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.