AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) was downgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $173.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 12.96% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Dbs Bank upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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, 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 report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

AptarGroup Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ATR opened at $153.15 on Monday. AptarGroup has a 1 year low of $122.37 and a 1 year high of $178.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $167.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.60, for a total value 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 $29,530,412.80. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATR. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,002 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 21,554 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 28.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,648,000 after buying an additional 15,244 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,492 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in AptarGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at about $126,000. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.