Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Position Decreased by Neuberger Berman Group LLC

Neuberger Berman Group LLC lowered its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 866,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,919 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 0.13% of Avantor worth $18,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew 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 worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $14.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.80 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.55.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 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. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.08.

About Avantor

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.