Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) Position Reduced by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 15.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,061,042 shares of the company's stock after selling 193,590 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.16% of Avient worth $53,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 81.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 663 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 811 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Avient by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 865 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Avient in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Avient by 185.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,459 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.48% of the company's stock.

Avient Stock Performance

NYSE:AVNT traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $53.39. 216,870 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,119. Avient Co. has a twelve month low of $33.84 and a twelve month high of $54.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.48.

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

Avient Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Avient's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Avient's payout ratio is 63.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $296,454.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Avient from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Avient from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Avient from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $54.50.

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.