BNP Paribas Financial Markets Cuts Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,835 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,150 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Avantor were worth $5,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 138,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,917,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,017,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,776,945. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.76 and a 200-day moving average of $18.61. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.82 and a 12 month 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Avantor Company 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.