Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 108,175 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR - Free Report) by 88.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,775 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 108,175 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.35% of AptarGroup worth $36,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup during the third quarter worth $108,239,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in AptarGroup by 111.0% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,075,168 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $151,394,000 after acquiring an additional 565,511 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 479,193 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in AptarGroup by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 538,830 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $86,315,000 after purchasing an additional 347,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in AptarGroup by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $113,395,000 after purchasing an additional 212,886 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised AptarGroup from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

ATR stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $172.77. 119,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,229. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.57. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.29 and a 12 month high of $178.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. AptarGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.14%.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 10th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AptarGroup news, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,857.30. The trade was a 9.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,530,412.80. This trade represents a 14.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,639 shares of company stock worth $5,960,841 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.