MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 583 Shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,306 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 583 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $5,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ATR. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in AptarGroup by 9.9% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 17,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,583 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of AptarGroup in the second quarter valued at $2,735,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in AptarGroup by 43.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,182,000 after purchasing an additional 34,573 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in AptarGroup by 35.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 805,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,395,000 after buying an additional 212,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 43.9% in the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Dbs Bank raised 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 lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on AptarGroup from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $195.00.

AptarGroup Stock Performance

NYSE ATR opened at $172.96 on Friday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.29 and a 1-year high of $178.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $166.75 and a 200-day moving average of $153.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.57.

AptarGroup Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AptarGroup

In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 30,000 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gael Touya sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.62, for a total transaction of $500,346.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,857.30. This represents a 9.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,639 shares of company stock worth $5,960,841. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.