Bank of America Corp DE Has $50.47 Million Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Bank of America Corp DE reduced its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 62.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,395,433 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,058,268 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.35% of Avantor worth $50,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth 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 period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business'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 value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 25,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Avantor Stock Up 4.3%

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $13.40. 22,017,022 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,776,945. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.61.

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. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.