McCollum Christoferson Group LLC Reduces Position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

McCollum Christoferson Group LLC trimmed its position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,415 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. McCollum Christoferson Group LLC’s holdings in AptarGroup were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of AptarGroup by 3.6% in the second 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 during the period. Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in AptarGroup by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 1,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its position in AptarGroup by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in AptarGroup by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delaney Dennis R lifted its holdings in AptarGroup by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 45,774 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,445,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. 88.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ATR shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded AptarGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $155.00 to $215.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of AptarGroup from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AptarGroup news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total transaction of $4,721,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,692,852.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Stephan B. Tanda sold 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.56, for a total transaction of $4,721,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,692,852.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Monnas Giovanna Kampouri sold 1,922 shares of AptarGroup stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.43, for a total value of $277,594.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,616.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,457 shares of company stock valued at $7,314,030 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

AptarGroup Stock Down 1.6 %

ATR stock opened at $165.95 on Thursday. AptarGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.36 and a fifty-two week high of $169.65. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $153.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.36.

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $910.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $930.15 million. AptarGroup had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 9.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that AptarGroup, Inc. will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AptarGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 24th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. AptarGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.63%.

AptarGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 4.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.