Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Bought by Dodge & Cox

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Avantor by 0.3% in Q3 to 117,746,888 shares, representing a 17.27% ownership worth about $1.47 billion, and institutional investors now own roughly 95.08% of the company.
• Company insiders have been buying shares recently: Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 50,000 shares at $9.16 and Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares at $9.40, with insiders purchasing 275,000 shares (~$2.40M) in the last quarter and owning 1.20% of the stock.
• Avantor shares trade near their 52-week low (opened $7.94), the company has a market cap of ~$5.41B and a negative P/E, guided FY2026 EPS to 0.77–0.83, and the analyst consensus is a Hold with an average target of $11.80.

Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 117,746,888 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 313,404 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned 17.27% of Avantor worth $1,469,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Avantor by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 104,022 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 40.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 4.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 30,213 shares of the company's stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 110.0% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,740 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,905,647 shares of the company's stock worth $159,751,000 after purchasing an additional 109,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.16 per share, for a total transaction of $458,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $458,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 275,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,399,250 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $7.94 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $10.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of -10.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.97. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.82 and a fifty-two week high of $17.11.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. Analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $11.80.

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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