Assetmark Inc. Raises Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 397 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,352 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 10,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,712 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $2,358,412.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 303,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 price objective (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 target price on shares of Avery Dennison in a 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 for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.51.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AVY opened at $178.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $174.91 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.64.

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

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.97%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.37%.

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.