New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 5,796 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY - Free Report) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,326 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,796 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Avery Dennison worth $16,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avery Dennison by 2.1% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,326,548 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $290,050,000 after acquiring an additional 27,771 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Avery Dennison by 3.6% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,019,802 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $227,660,000 after purchasing an additional 35,538 shares during the period. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Avery Dennison by 0.7% during the third quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 794,092 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $175,261,000 after buying an additional 5,756 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avery Dennison by 4.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $172,254,000 after buying an additional 32,467 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 646,223 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $141,297,000 after acquiring an additional 17,158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AVY shares. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $274.60 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Avery Dennison from $253.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Avery Dennison from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Avery Dennison from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avery Dennison has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $244.96.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of Avery Dennison stock traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $206.11. 389,108 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,778. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $215.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.92. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $175.10 and a 12 month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.01. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.01% and a net margin of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be given a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 4th. Avery Dennison's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total transaction of $1,550,396.96. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at $66,333,345.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.12, for a total value of $1,550,396.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at $66,333,345.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.95, for a total value of $608,850.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,719,936.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,108 shares of company stock worth $10,407,587. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.