Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 62.5%, now holding 323,073 shares valued at approximately $5.24 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in Avantor, including GAMMA Investing LLC with a 121.6% increase and Fifth Third Bancorp with a 52.0% boost.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Avantor, with a consensus price target of $15.50 and recent downgrades from firms like Goldman Sachs and TD Cowen.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 62.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,073 shares of the company's stock after selling 539,332 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 121.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Avantor by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 19.8% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have bought a total of 75,000 shares of company stock valued at $928,000 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Avantor from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Cowen cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight research 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,404,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,904,507. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.32. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $27.83. The company has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Avantor 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.