Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Has $98.64 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,681,535 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,159,426 shares during the period. Avantor comprises 3.3% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT owned 0.69% of Avantor worth $98,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVTR. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $16.61 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Profile

Avantor, Inc engages in the provision of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, advanced technologies, and applied materials industries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company offers materials and consumables, such as purity chemicals and reagents, lab products and supplies, formulated silicone materials, customized excipients, customized single-use assemblies, process chromatography resins and columns, analytical sample prep kits, education and microbiology products, clinical trial kits, peristaltic pumps, and fluid handling tips.