Man Group plc Purchases Shares of 35,611 Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Man Group plc bought a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $750,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in Avantor by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 82,523 shares of the company's stock worth $1,767,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in Avantor by 945.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 90,310 shares of the company's stock worth $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 81,671 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 28,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 4,776 shares during the period. Meridiem Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth $11,829,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Avantor stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,637,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,357,380. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.02. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.