Alerus Financial NA Cuts Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Alerus Financial NA lowered its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 29.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,790 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 10,270 shares during the quarter. Alerus Financial NA’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $3,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 29.4% in the 3rd 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. FMR LLC increased its position in AptarGroup by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $298,626,000 after purchasing an additional 214,097 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in AptarGroup by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $185,516,000 after purchasing an additional 82,934 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in 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. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 35.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at $29,530,412.80. This represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,857.30. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,639 shares of company stock valued at $5,960,841. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ATR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Dbs Bank raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Price Performance

ATR opened at $172.96 on Friday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $122.29 and a twelve month high of $178.03. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.83.

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

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.