Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Trims Stake in Avanos Medical, Inc. $AVNS

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its position in Avanos Medical, Inc. (NYSE:AVNS) by 71.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,945 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Avanos Medical were worth $292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avanos Medical during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,660,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avanos Medical by 508.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 547,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,849,000 after buying an additional 457,703 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avanos Medical by 190.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 560,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,855,000 after buying an additional 367,188 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Avanos Medical in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,212,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avanos Medical by 3,689.1% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 237,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,908,000 after acquiring an additional 231,344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avanos Medical

In other news, SVP Kerr Holbrook sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $165,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 83,860 shares in the company, valued at $922,460. The trade was a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.64% of the company’s stock.

Avanos Medical Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE AVNS opened at $11.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.66. Avanos Medical, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.30 and a 52-week high of $17.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.38. The company has a market cap of $530.39 million, a PE ratio of -1.12 and a beta of 1.09.

Avanos Medical (NYSE:AVNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.10. Avanos Medical had a negative net margin of 67.00% and a positive return on equity of 6.21%. The company had revenue of $177.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Avanos Medical has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.850-0.950 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avanos Medical, Inc. will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avanos Medical from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research cut Avanos Medical from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Avanos Medical in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Sell”.

About Avanos Medical

Avanos Medical is a global medical technology company that develops and markets a broad portfolio of medical devices intended to improve patient outcomes in hospital, outpatient and post-acute care settings. The company’s products focus on three core therapy areas—pain management, enteral feeding and respiratory care—designed to help clinicians manage post-operative pain, deliver nutrition support and assist breathing for patients across a variety of acute and chronic conditions.

In its pain management segment, Avanos offers both non-opioid drug delivery systems and cryoanalgesia devices, including ambulatory infusion pumps and cooled radiofrequency ablation platforms.