California Public Employees Retirement System Has $5.98 Million Stock Holdings in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,387 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,015 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of Avient worth $5,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Avient by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 608,621 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,626,000 after buying an additional 111,489 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Avient by 288.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 19,401 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avient by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,174,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,431,000 after purchasing an additional 43,249 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Avient by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,231,720 shares of the company's stock worth $213,977,000 after buying an additional 121,349 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at $304,000. 95.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Avient from $55.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded Avient to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Avient in a research report on Friday, March 14th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avient presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $48.60.

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Avient Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Avient stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $31.12. 710,526 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,527. Avient Co. has a one year low of $27.86 and a one year high of $54.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.05.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.49. Avient had a net margin of 5.23% and a return on equity of 10.44%. On average, research analysts expect that Avient Co. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avient Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 59.02%.

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.