Meyer Handelman Co. Boosts Stock Position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Meyer Handelman Co. raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 41.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,283 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,501 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.'s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $5,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,681,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,811,738,000 after acquiring an additional 33,149 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,225,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $790,683,000 after buying an additional 150,572 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,185,732 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $409,014,000 after buying an additional 250,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,102,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $392,445,000 after buying an additional 13,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,841,520 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $344,603,000 after buying an additional 71,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $172.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus cut Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.60.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVY traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $176.00. 836,158 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 616,241. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $174.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.81. The stock has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison Co. has a one year low of $157.00 and a one year high of $233.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.02). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $2.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Avery Dennison's payout ratio is currently 43.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total transaction of $2,358,412.65. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.