Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $9.72 Million Stock Holdings in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 51,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,707 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $9,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Avery Dennison by 485.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 35,630 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,715,000 after buying an additional 29,541 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. acquired a new position in Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,263,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Avery Dennison by 12.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 420,232 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $92,771,000 after purchasing an additional 46,390 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Avery Dennison in the third quarter worth $6,701,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison during the fourth quarter worth $218,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AVY. Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price objective on Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 price objective on Avery Dennison in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $208.00 target price (down from $218.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avery Dennison has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $222.51.

Insider Activity

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

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Shares of AVY opened at $180.55 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Avery Dennison Co. has a 12 month low of $173.02 and a 12 month high of $233.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $195.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $2.38 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was 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.