Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 69.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,025 shares of the company's stock after selling 613,825 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Avantor were worth $5,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after acquiring an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,251,000 after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,232,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,227,000 after acquiring an additional 81,541 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Up 4.3%

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $13.40. 22,017,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,776,945. The stock has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.61. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.82 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $600,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.