Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 15,244 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,670 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,244 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.10% of AptarGroup worth $11,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATR. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 3.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,977 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,349 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AptarGroup by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of AptarGroup by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,361 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Trust Co increased its stake in AptarGroup by 6.1% in the second quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 1,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

AptarGroup Trading Down 0.4 %

ATR stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $158.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 730,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 291,152. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $169.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.29 and a 52 week high of $178.03. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.14%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ATR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, AptarGroup currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $195.00.

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,530,412.80. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.83, for a total transaction of $162,752.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.