Man Group plc Sells 2,257 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,578 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,257 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.10% of Avery Dennison worth $14,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AVY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter worth about $188,643,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,521,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $409,014,000 after purchasing an additional 250,359 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at $40,354,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 465,479 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $87,105,000 after buying an additional 208,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVY. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Avery Dennison from $208.00 to $194.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avery Dennison

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.19, for a total transaction of $1,502,180.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 316,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,891,897. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of AVY traded down $3.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $180.15. 518,375 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 609,225. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $14.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $173.97 and a 200 day moving average of $185.35. Avery Dennison Co. has a one year low of $157.00 and a one year high of $233.48.

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

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison's payout ratio is currently 43.32%.

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.