AptarGroup, Inc. (ATR): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bearish, What Should You Do?

AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) investors should be aware of a decrease in hedge fund interest lately.

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics market participants can use to watch their holdings. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best fund managers can outpace the market by a significant margin (see just how much).

Equally as integral, optimistic insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are plenty of motivations for an upper level exec to drop shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this strategy if you know where to look (learn more here).

Now, it’s important to take a peek at the recent action encompassing AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR).

Hedge fund activity in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes substantially.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management had the largest position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR), worth close to $77.6 million, comprising 0.3% of its total 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Chuck Royce of Royce & Associates, with a $19.2 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Some other hedge funds that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management and Israel Englander’s Catapult Capital Management.

Since AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) has witnessed a declination in interest from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there is a sect of funds who sold off their positions entirely heading into Q2. At the top of the heap, John Fichthorn’s Dialectic Capital Management cut the biggest position of all the hedgies we monitor, totaling about $1.6 million in stock., and D. E. Shaw of D E Shaw was right behind this move, as the fund dumped about $0.7 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).

How are insiders trading AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time period, AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 6 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s check out hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR). These stocks are Tupperware Brands Corporation (NYSE:TUP), Packaging Corp Of America (NYSE:PKG), Owens-Illinois Inc (NYSE:OI), Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS), and Sonoco Products Company (NYSE:SON). This group of stocks belong to the packaging & containers industry and their market caps are similar to ATR’s market cap.

With the results exhibited by our tactics, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading activity, and AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) is an important part of this process.

Click here to learn why you should track hedge funds