Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.40% of Avantor worth $1,347,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake 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. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avantor Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE AVTR opened at $16.17 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.49. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Avantor Company 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.