T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Raises Stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,225,309 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 150,572 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 5.26% of Avery Dennison worth $790,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 76.0% during the fourth 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. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 367 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew 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 worth $74,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AVY shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Avery Dennison from $226.00 to $216.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of 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. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $207.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avery Dennison in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.80.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVY traded down $1.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $169.38. 198,864 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 592,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Avery Dennison Co. has a 1 year low of $157.00 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The company has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $176.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.44.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $2.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. This is a boost from Avery Dennison's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.