27,524 Shares in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 27,524 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,151,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 301 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 397 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 49.8% during 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 during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AVY. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $208.00 to $194.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avery Dennison in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "hold" rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 303,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Shares of Avery Dennison stock traded down $1.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $177.68. 1,306,679 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 615,362. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12-month low of $157.00 and a 12-month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.02). The company 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 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio is 43.32%.

About Avery Dennison

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.