Avery Dennison Corporation $AVY Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. raised its Avery Dennison stake 4.3% in Q4 to 1,008,727 shares (about 1.31% of the company), valued at roughly $183.47 million.
• Analysts are broadly positive—10 Buys and 3 Holds give an average "Moderate Buy" consensus with an average price target of $207.42, and several firms recently lifted targets (e.g., BMO to $224, JPMorgan to $205).
• Avery Dennison beat Q4 EPS estimates with $2.45 on $2.27B revenue, issued Q1 2026 EPS guidance of $2.40–$2.46, and pays a $0.94 quarterly dividend (2.2% yield, ~42.8% payout ratio).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,008,727 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,714 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.31% of Avery Dennison worth $183,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 7,800 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,860 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,151 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,754,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $224.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Avery Dennison from $188.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Avery Dennison in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Avery Dennison from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $207.42.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVY opened at $171.04 on Monday. Avery Dennison Corporation has a twelve month low of $156.23 and a twelve month high of $199.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.51.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $2.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.05. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.84% and a net margin of 7.77%.The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Avery Dennison has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.400-2.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avery Dennison Corporation will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Avery Dennison's payout ratio is 42.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Ignacio J. Walker sold 1,156 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.95, for a total value of $223,050.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,588 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,104.60. The trade was a 13.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mitchell R. Butier sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.50, for a total value of $2,229,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 198,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,982,210.50. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,156 shares of company stock valued at $5,930,150 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison NYSE: AVY is a global materials science and manufacturing company specializing in labeling and packaging solutions. The company develops pressure-sensitive materials, tags and labels, and adhesive technologies that help brands and businesses enhance product identification, branding and supply-chain performance. Avery Dennison's offerings range from industrial and retail labeling to high-performance tapes, films and graphics materials used across multiple end markets.

The company operates through several key segments, including Label and Graphic Materials, which supplies pressure-sensitive materials for consumer goods; Retail Branding and Information Solutions, offering apparel tags, RFID inlays and digital product identification; Pressure-Sensitive Materials, providing specialty tapes and adhesives; and RF Technologies, focused on advanced RFID and IoT labeling solutions.

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