ARGA Investment Management LP Sells 11,301 Shares of Avnet, Inc. $AVT

Key Points

• ARGA Investment Management reduced its Avnet stake by 30.4% in the third quarter, selling 11,301 shares and ending the period with 25,889 shares valued at about $2.59 million.
• Avnet reported quarterly EPS of $2.28, beating the $1.80 consensus, while revenue of $8.30 billion exceeded expectations and rose 47.7% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.35 to $0.37 per share. Analysts’ average rating was “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $93.25.

ARGA Investment Management LP cut its stake in Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT - Free Report) by 30.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,889 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,301 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP's holdings in Avnet were worth $2,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVT. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avnet in the second quarter valued at approximately $11,263,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Avnet in the first quarter worth about $2,400,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Avnet during the second quarter worth about $5,838,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Avnet by 59.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 149,226 shares of the company's stock worth $13,254,000 after acquiring an additional 55,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Avnet during the second quarter worth about $2,978,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.78% of the company's stock.

Avnet Trading Up 2.9%

NASDAQ AVT opened at $88.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.12. Avnet, Inc. has a one year low of $44.25 and a one year high of $108.63.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.56 billion. Avnet had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avnet, Inc. will post 10.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avnet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Avnet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Avnet's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.09%.

Insider Transactions at Avnet

In other news, CEO Philip R. Gallagher sold 51,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.46, for a total transaction of $5,110,074.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 168,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,632,158.58. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Ryan Mccoy sold 32,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.10, for a total transaction of $2,919,937.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 76,674 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,985,001.40. The trade was a 29.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Avnet from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avnet from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered Avnet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Avnet from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Avnet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.25.

About Avnet

Avnet, Inc is a global technology distributor that helps manufacturers and design engineers source electronic components and develop products. The company supplies semiconductors, embedded processors, memory, connectivity products, sensors, power-management components and other electronic parts used in industrial, automotive, communications, computing, aerospace and defense applications.

In addition to component distribution, Avnet provides engineering and design services, supply-chain management, product customization, logistics, and technical support.

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