Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Holdings Cut by London Co. of Virginia

Key Points

• London Co. of Virginia cut its Avantor stake by 9.1% in the first quarter, though it still held more than 10.8 million shares worth about $85.1 million.
• Two Avantor directors bought shares in May, signaling insider confidence: Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares and Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares.
• Analysts remain cautious overall on AVTR, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.62, even as the stock recently traded above that level at $11.47.

London Co. of Virginia reduced its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,852,257 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,084,265 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned 1.59% of Avantor worth $85,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Avantor by 104.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 104,022 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 40,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,000 after buying an additional 11,543 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Avantor in the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Avantor by 214.9% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 124,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 84,679 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Simon Dingemans acquired 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AVTR shares. UBS Group set a $8.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $10.50 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.62.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $11.47 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $9.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.41. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.26 and a 52-week high of $15.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc NYSE: AVTR is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments.

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