Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 56,291 Shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,004,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 56,291 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.10% of Avient worth $41,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter valued at about $819,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the fourth quarter worth $90,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Avient by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,185,999 shares of the company's stock worth $130,180,000 after acquiring an additional 276,357 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in Avient by 97.9% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 25,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 12,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Avient by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 14,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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Avient Trading Down 8.7 %

NYSE AVNT traded down $2.85 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $30.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 309,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,548. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.41. Avient Co. has a 52 week low of $27.86 and a 52 week 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.

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

Avient Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Avient's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.02%.

Avient Company 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.