Trexquant Investment LP Sells 28,305 Shares of Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY)

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in Avery Dennison Co. (NYSE:AVY) by 52.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,305 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Avery Dennison were worth $4,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVY. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Avery Dennison during the 3rd quarter valued at about $390,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Avery Dennison by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 80.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 62,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,724,000 after acquiring an additional 27,765 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Avery Dennison by 2.8% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 32,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Avery Dennison by 18.1% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 21,681 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the period. 94.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AVY shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Avery Dennison from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $226.00 target price on shares of Avery Dennison in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Avery Dennison from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $210.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Avery Dennison from $235.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avery Dennison news, Chairman Mitchell R. Butier sold 12,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 303,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,160,742.35. The trade was a 4.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avery Dennison Price Performance

Shares of AVY stock opened at $170.30 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $181.82 and its 200 day moving average is $195.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.85. Avery Dennison Co. has a twelve month low of $168.77 and a twelve month high of $233.48.

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) last released 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%. Research analysts expect that Avery Dennison Co. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avery Dennison Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Avery Dennison’s dividend payout ratio 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.