300,000 Shares in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Bought by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 300,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,863,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVTR. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 100,262,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,625,259,000 after buying an additional 1,116,953 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,952,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,052,887,000 after purchasing an additional 983,172 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,969,199 shares of the company's stock worth $680,321,000 after acquiring an additional 608,806 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Avantor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,131,000 after acquiring an additional 443,501 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 89.8% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 18,127,204 shares of the company's stock worth $293,842,000 after purchasing an additional 8,578,493 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of Avantor stock traded down $0.41 on Friday, reaching $12.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,467,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,750,238. The business's 50 day moving average is $13.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.96. The company has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $27.83.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Avantor had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%.The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

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.