Park Avenue Securities LLC Cuts Stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 22.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,670,469 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $487,857,000 after purchasing an additional 493,857 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 55.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,788,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $326,673,000 after buying an additional 639,521 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 4,159.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,191,228 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $240,819,000 after buying an additional 1,163,264 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter worth approximately $185,292,000. Finally, Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 760,791 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,804,000 after acquiring an additional 102,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Down 2.1 %

AVY stock opened at $218.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.51. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $163.83 and a 12 month high of $231.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $17.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.91.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The industrial products company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.14. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 32.59% and a net margin of 6.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This is a boost from Avery Dennison’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Avery Dennison’s payout ratio is currently 51.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AVY shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $223.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $225.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $218.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Avery Dennison from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Avery Dennison from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $230.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Gregory Lovins sold 2,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.20, for a total transaction of $657,516.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,457 shares in the company, valued at $15,326,230.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deena Baker-Nel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.17, for a total value of $684,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,577 shares in the company, valued at $359,824.09. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gregory Lovins sold 2,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.20, for a total transaction of $657,516.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 67,457 shares in the company, valued at $15,326,230.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $2,856,353. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avery Dennison Company 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.