Courier Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Avery Dennison by 192.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,713 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after acquiring an additional 7,047 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Avery Dennison by 91.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,779 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 4,667 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Avery Dennison by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,219,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $199.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America downgraded Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Avery Dennison from $185.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avery Dennison news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.29, for a total transaction of $298,606.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,843 shares in the company, valued at $606,383.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Avery Dennison news, insider Ryan D. Yost sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.29, for a total transaction of $298,606.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,843 shares in the company, valued at $606,383.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Julia A. Stewart sold 5,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.26, for a total value of $1,074,202.86. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,014,940.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,879 shares of company stock worth $4,217,705. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avery Dennison Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:AVY opened at $224.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.04. Avery Dennison Co. has a one year low of $158.93 and a one year high of $224.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.32. The stock has a market cap of $18.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.90.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.16. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 30.97% and a net margin of 6.01%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 6th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

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.