Quest Partners LLC Sells 296 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Quest Partners LLC reduced its stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $2,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Avery Dennison by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avery Dennison by 4.0% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 12,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVY opened at $198.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $212.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.52. Avery Dennison Co. has a 52-week low of $186.66 and a 52-week high of $233.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.20 billion. Avery Dennison had a net margin of 7.76% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.42 EPS for the current year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Avery Dennison from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $230.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group cut Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $262.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avery Dennison from $241.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Avery Dennison from $250.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Avery Dennison from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 7,108 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 304,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,333,345.68. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.