Jane Street Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Jane Street Group LLC lowered its stake in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 57.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,443 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,838 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC's holdings in AptarGroup were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,889,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $462,919,000 after buying an additional 14,001 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,864,198 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $298,626,000 after acquiring an additional 214,097 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in AptarGroup by 1.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 953,950 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $152,813,000 after purchasing an additional 17,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

AptarGroup Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ATR traded down $0.70 on Friday, hitting $158.15. 145,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 288,914. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.29 and a fifty-two week high of $178.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.27. 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 company has a market cap of $10.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.58.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup's payout ratio is currently 36.14%.

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

Insider Activity at AptarGroup

In related news, 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 transaction of $5,088,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares in the company, valued at $29,530,412.80. The trade was a 14.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 10.94 % 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.

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.