Comerica Bank Sells 681,954 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 71.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 267,714 shares of the company's stock after selling 681,954 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Avantor were worth $5,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,504,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Avantor by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,170,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101,407 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Avantor by 48.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,983,439 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 82.3% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 82,380 shares of the company's stock worth $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 37,180 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 305,930 shares of the company's stock worth $6,446,000 after acquiring an additional 119,728 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $12.30. The stock had a trading volume of 19,206,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,530,429. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.82 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.27 and a 200 day moving average of $19.12. 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, meeting 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 return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. Avantor's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 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 transaction of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.88.

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.