Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 37,552 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lessened its holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 75.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 37,552 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $2,283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVY. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 100.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Regents Gate Capital LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avery Dennison in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $208.00 target price (down previously from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.51.

Avery Dennison Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Avery Dennison stock opened at $185.64 on Thursday. 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 $178.72 and a 1 year high of $233.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $186.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.13. The stock has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.37%.

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.