Durable Capital Partners LP Sells 3,182,150 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Durable Capital Partners LP decreased its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 39.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,809,948 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,182,150 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP owned 0.71% of Avantor worth $101,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Avantor by 48.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,983,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock worth $171,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,395 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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 represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE AVTR traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.03. 10,442,585 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,560,590. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.82 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G 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. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $15.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.95.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated 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. Cowen cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.

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.