Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Purchases 125 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its position in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,991 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,681,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,811,738,000 after acquiring an additional 33,149 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,088,516 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $459,621,000 after purchasing an additional 157,754 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 926,506 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $173,385,000 after purchasing an additional 66,216 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 764,591 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $143,078,000 after buying an additional 134,560 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,091 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $130,821,000 after buying an additional 10,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,160,742.35. This trade represents a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVY has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avery Dennison from $228.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Avery Dennison from $238.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on Avery Dennison in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.51.

Avery Dennison Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:AVY opened at $178.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $173.02 and a twelve month high of $233.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.18.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by ($0.01). Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.37%.

Avery Dennison Profile

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.