Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 62,183 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 536,527 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 62,183 shares during the quarter. Avery Dennison comprises 1.4% of Sterling Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.67% of Avery Dennison worth $100,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,133 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the 3rd quarter valued at $451,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Avery Dennison by 73.9% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.5% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 20.6% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 10,752 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Avery Dennison stock traded down $0.88 on Wednesday, reaching $168.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 256,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,848. The business's fifty day moving average price is $178.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.11. The company has a market cap of $13.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.08. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $157.00 and a twelve month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 33.06%. Equities analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVY has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $208.00 price target (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price target on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.85, for a total value of $2,358,412.65. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 303,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. This represents a 4.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.