Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Stake in Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its holdings in shares of Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,192 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Avnet were worth $593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Avnet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,065,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Avnet by 51.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,521,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,306,000 after buying an additional 515,095 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Avnet by 971.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 437,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,069,000 after buying an additional 396,405 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avnet by 586.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 259,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,486,000 after purchasing an additional 221,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Avnet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,253,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,175,000 after purchasing an additional 157,709 shares in the last quarter. 95.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 19,532 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $1,008,437.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 140,792 shares in the company, valued at $7,269,090.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Avnet news, Director Carlo Bozotti sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $489,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,578 shares in the company, valued at $629,843.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 19,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.63, for a total transaction of $1,008,437.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 140,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,269,090.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avnet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AVT opened at $54.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 2.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $49.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.10. Avnet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.42 and a fifty-two week high of $55.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89 and a beta of 1.21.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Avnet had a return on equity of 11.64% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $5.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.00 EPS. Avnet’s revenue was down 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Avnet, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is 20.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Avnet from $48.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Avnet from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

Avnet Profile

Avnet, Inc, distributes electronic component technology. The company operates through two segments, Electronic Components and Farnell. The Electronic Components segment markets, sells, and distributes semiconductors; interconnect, passive, and electromechanical components; and other integrated components from electronic component manufacturers.