Westpac Banking Corp Buys 1,207 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,650 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Avantor were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 122.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 16,818 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the third quarter worth about $2,575,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Avantor by 26.4% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 3,733 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its holdings in Avantor by 49.7% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 22,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 254,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,594,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

AVTR stock opened at $15.15 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.93 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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