Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $24.11 Million Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 24.0% by acquiring an additional 288,335 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately $24 million.
• Avantor's stock price has recently risen by 3.1%, with shares currently trading at $11.65, well below its 1-year high of $27.83.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $0.24 per share, slightly missing analyst expectations, while revenue decreased by 1.1% year-over-year, amounting to $1.68 billion.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,487,595 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 288,335 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Avantor worth $24,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Avantor by 44.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock worth $443,251,000 after purchasing an additional 112,644 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Avantor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company's stock worth $382,131,000 after purchasing an additional 443,501 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Avantor by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,785,138 shares of the company's stock worth $206,173,000 after purchasing an additional 317,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Avantor by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,232,884 shares of the company's stock worth $149,667,000 after purchasing an additional 363,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 target price on shares of Avantor and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $11.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,659,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,602,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.82 and a fifty-two week high of $27.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $13.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.