Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday. The stock had previously closed at $89.65, but opened at $94.29. Avnet shares last traded at $92.6750, with a volume of 24,631 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Avnet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avnet from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Avnet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avnet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.25.

Avnet Stock Down 0.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.12.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. Avnet’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.81 earnings per share. Avnet has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.800-2.900 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avnet, Inc. will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Avnet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Avnet’s payout ratio is currently 37.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Philip Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.46, for a total transaction of $5,110,074.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 168,923 shares in the company, valued at $16,632,158.58. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Ryan Mccoy sold 32,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.10, for a total transaction of $2,919,937.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 76,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,985,001.40. This trade represents a 29.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avnet

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Avnet during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Avnet during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Avnet by 32.1% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Avnet by 38.5% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new stake in Avnet in the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. 95.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avnet Company Profile

Avnet, Inc is a global technology distributor that helps manufacturers and design engineers source electronic components and develop products. The company supplies semiconductors, embedded processors, memory, connectivity products, sensors, power-management components and other electronic parts used in industrial, automotive, communications, computing, aerospace and defense applications.

In addition to component distribution, Avnet provides engineering and design services, supply-chain management, product customization, logistics, and technical support.