Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,436 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Avery Dennison by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $459,621,000 after purchasing an additional 157,754 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Avery Dennison by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 764,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,078,000 after buying an additional 134,560 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Avery Dennison by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 699,541 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $154,431,000 after buying an additional 3,118 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Avery Dennison by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $130,821,000 after buying an additional 10,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Avery Dennison by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,611 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,338,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AVY. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down previously from $245.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.51.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVY opened at $179.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $14.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52 week low of $174.91 and a 52 week high of $233.48. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $185.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total value of $1,502,180.92. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 316,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,891,897. This represents a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avery Dennison Profile

Avery Dennison Corporation operates as a materials science and digital identification solutions company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin, America, and internationally. It provides pressure-sensitive materials comprising papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics; performance tapes products, including tapes for wire harnessing, as well as cable wrapping for automotive, electrical, and general industrial applications; mechanical fasteners, which are precision-extruded and injection-molded plastic devices used in various automotive, general industrial, and retail applications; and other pressure-sensitive adhesive-based materials and converted products under the Fasson, JAC, Yongle, and Avery Dennison brands.