Jennison Associates LLC Buys 17,976 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,696,565 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,976 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.86% of Avient worth $85,371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Avient by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,057,356 shares of the company's stock worth $204,166,000 after purchasing an additional 65,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avient by 3.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,936,318 shares of the company's stock worth $171,818,000 after buying an additional 149,283 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Avient by 0.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 871,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,028,000 after buying an additional 6,881 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Avient by 120.6% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Avient by 162.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 748,675 shares of the company's stock worth $32,680,000 after acquiring an additional 463,919 shares during the period. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avient

In other Avient news, SVP Joel R. Rathbun sold 5,762 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Avient from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $54.50.

Avient Stock Down 1.6 %

Avient stock opened at $49.00 on Thursday. Avient Co. has a 1-year low of $33.84 and a 1-year high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $49.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.39.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $815.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.50 million. Avient had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avient Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avient Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.58%.

Avient Profile

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.