Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY) Shares Purchased by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,185 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 3,423 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $4,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVY. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the first quarter worth about $49,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 17.7% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 393 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Avery Dennison by 64.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVY. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Argus lowered Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.60.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

NYSE:AVY traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $184.50. 503,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 648,839. Avery Dennison Corporation has a 52-week low of $157.00 and a 52-week high of $233.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $178.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.87.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.11% and a net margin of 7.98%. Avery Dennison's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Corporation will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This is a boost from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Avery Dennison's dividend 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.