Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Makes New $302,000 Investment in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT bought a new stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,924 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in AptarGroup by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AptarGroup by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,182,000 after buying an additional 34,573 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AptarGroup by 5.8% during the 3rd 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. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in AptarGroup by 43.9% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,066,000 after buying an additional 12,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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. 88.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AptarGroup Stock Up 1.1 %

ATR opened at $157.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $161.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.90. AptarGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $128.05 and a twelve month high of $178.03. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 5th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. AptarGroup’s payout ratio is 36.14%.

AptarGroup announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 10th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to buy up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATR. Raymond James initiated coverage on AptarGroup in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Dbs Bank raised shares of AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on AptarGroup from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

Insider Activity

In other AptarGroup news, EVP Kimberly Chainey sold 964 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,324,977.84. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.