Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Avnet, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVT) by 61.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 399,593 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,821 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.46% of Avnet worth $20,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Avnet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,962,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,336,000 after acquiring an additional 38,185 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avnet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,502,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,247,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avnet by 11,848.6% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,840,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816,889 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Avnet by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,116,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,426,000 after purchasing an additional 43,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Avnet during the fourth quarter worth $52,924,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVT. Bank of America downgraded shares of Avnet from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Avnet from $54.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th.

Avnet Stock Performance

NASDAQ AVT opened at $46.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Avnet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.22 and a 1 year high of $59.24. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.04.

Avnet (NASDAQ:AVT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.01). Avnet had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 7.49%. As a group, analysts expect that Avnet, Inc. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Avnet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Avnet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.39%.

About Avnet

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.