Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,841,520 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,435 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 2.29% of Avery Dennison worth $344,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 6,979 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter valued at $543,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 134.7% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,640 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Avery Dennison by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 37,641 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $7,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 6,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus downgraded Avery Dennison from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $205.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.60.

Insider Activity

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 8,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 316,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,891,897. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE AVY traded up $1.34 on Thursday, hitting $181.85. 474,129 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 610,407. The business's 50 day moving average price is $173.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52-week low of $157.00 and a 52-week high of $233.48. The company has a market capitalization of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.88.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. The business's revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 2.07%. Avery Dennison's payout ratio is currently 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.