Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 532 Shares of Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its position in shares of Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,745 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 532 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. American National Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Avery Dennison by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 393 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Avery Dennison in the 1st quarter worth $71,000. 94.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Avery Dennison from $225.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Avery Dennison from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Avery Dennison from $195.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $207.00 target price (down from $216.00) on shares of Avery Dennison in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Argus lowered Avery Dennison from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avery Dennison presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.60.

Avery Dennison Stock Performance

NYSE AVY opened at $179.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.88. Avery Dennison Corporation has a twelve month low of $157.00 and a twelve month high of $224.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.76 and a 200 day moving average of $177.63.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.04. Avery Dennison had a return on equity of 33.14% and a net margin of 8.14%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Avery Dennison’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avery Dennison Corporation will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.20%.

Avery Dennison Company 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.