Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 812,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $151,985,000 after buying an additional 112,650 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $392,445,000 after purchasing an additional 13,815 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at about $296,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of AVY stock opened at $170.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.27. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $168.77 and a twelve month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of Avery Dennison stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total value of $1,502,180.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 316,300 shares in the company, valued at $58,891,897. The trade was a 2.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price objective on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.51.

About Avery Dennison

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.