The equity market returns were very disappointing in the third quarter, “thanks” to the slowdown of China’s economy and the weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data. It was not entirely clear whether the broader market sell-off made U.S. equity valuations undervalued, but it definitely made them more attractive. It is worth mentioning that Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) underperformed the broad-market S&P 500 ETF by more than 14 percentage points during the period of June 25, 2015 through October 30, 2015. This clearly points to the fact that most investors, including hedge fund firms and institutional investors, heavily cut their exposure to high-potential (but seemingly riskier) small-cap stocks during the bloody third quarter. So let’s take a glance at the smart money sentiment towards AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) and see how it was affected.
AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR) was in 18 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. ATR has seen an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. There were 15 hedge funds in our database with ATR positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare ATR to other stocks, including Alere Inc (NYSE:ALR), Arista Networks Inc (NYSE:ANET), and Columbia Sportswear Company (NASDAQ:COLM) to get a better sense of its popularity.
Follow Aptargroup Inc. (NYSE:ATR)
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Keeping this in mind, let’s view the recent action surrounding AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR).
What have hedge funds been doing with AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR)?
At the end of the third quarter, a total of 18 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 20% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).
When looking at the institutional investors followed by Insider Monkey, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the number one position in AptarGroup, Inc. (NYSE:ATR). The fund has a $34.1 million investment in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson of Adage Capital Management, with a $13.2 million position; less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining members of the smart money with similar optimism include Ken Grossman and Glen Schneider’s SG Capital Management, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
