D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys 267,622 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 864.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 298,572 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 267,622 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Avantor were worth $6,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Crestline Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 84.7% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 24,409 shares of the company's stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 11,192 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Avantor by 102.6% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 23,894 shares of the company's stock worth $503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,098 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $356,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,645,022 shares of the company's stock worth $34,661,000 after purchasing an additional 225,751 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,552,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.67. The stock had a trading volume of 4,094,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,826,716. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $11.82 and a one year high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $14.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $600,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor 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 $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.