AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) Short Interest Update

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 629,600 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the December 15th total of 529,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 279,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ATR. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America downgraded AptarGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $173.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total value of $162,752.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,324,977.84. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in AptarGroup by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $462,919,000 after acquiring an additional 14,001 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $337,502,000 after acquiring an additional 479,193 shares in the last quarter. 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 increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 5.8% in the third 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. increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 7.7% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,158,102 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $185,516,000 after buying an additional 82,934 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ATR traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $156.08. 231,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 254,875. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.64. AptarGroup has a 1-year low of $126.31 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.59.

AptarGroup declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.