Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 193,590 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,061,042 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193,590 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Avient were worth $53,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AVNT. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Avient by 162.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,680,000 after buying an additional 463,919 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avient by 836.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 480,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,962,000 after acquiring an additional 428,971 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Avient by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 784,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after acquiring an additional 428,624 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avient in the 2nd quarter worth $11,135,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Avient by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,818,000 after purchasing an additional 149,283 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avient

In other news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Avient from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Avient from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT opened at $52.28 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.48. Avient Co. has a 12-month low of $33.84 and a 12-month high of $54.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $815.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Avient’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

About Avient

Avient Corporation operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia. It operates in two segments, Color, Additives and Inks; and Specialty Engineered Materials. The Color, Additives and Inks segment offers custom color and additive concentrates in solid and liquid form for thermoplastics, dispersions for thermosets, and specialty inks; custom-formulated liquid system, such as polyester, vinyl, natural rubber and latex, polyurethane, and silicone; and proprietary inks.