Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 13,815 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,815 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $392,445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Financial LLC bought a new stake in Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter worth approximately $296,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 91,989 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,214,000 after buying an additional 2,641 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 378,060 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,788,000 after buying an additional 96,428 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter worth about $429,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in Avery Dennison by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 15,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price target on Avery Dennison in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.51.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 3.4 %

AVY opened at $170.30 on Friday. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $168.77 and a twelve month high of $233.48. The firm has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $181.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $195.27.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is 40.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total transaction of $1,502,180.92. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 316,300 shares in the company, valued at $58,891,897. This trade represents a 2.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.