Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,891,475 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 640,881 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.72% of Avantor worth $103,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AVTR. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE AVTR opened at $16.27 on Thursday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year 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 $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $18.05 and a 200 day moving average of $21.17.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

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

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.