Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $44.81 Million Stake in Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Avient Co. (NYSE:AVNT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,078,009 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,725 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in Avient were worth $44,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AVNT. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 17,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 51,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 4,923 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 333,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,789,000 after purchasing an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avient in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avient by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 153,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,409,000 after purchasing an additional 59,830 shares in the last quarter. 95.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avient Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE AVNT opened at $43.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.53. Avient Co. has a 1 year low of $27.73 and a 1 year high of $47.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Avient (NYSE:AVNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.07. Avient had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Avient Co. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Avient Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.257 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.03 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Avient’s payout ratio is 89.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVNT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Avient from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Avient from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avient has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.20.

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.