Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• Blueshift Asset Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc., purchasing 34,997 shares valued at approximately $567,000 during the first quarter.
• Avantor's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.24, slightly missing the consensus estimate of $0.25, with revenues of $1.68 billion, up from the expected $1.67 billion.
• An insider, Director Gregory L. Summe, bought 30,000 shares of Avantor's stock, increasing his ownership by 42.86%, reflecting insider confidence in the company's future performance.

Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 34,997 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $567,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in Avantor by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after acquiring an additional 30,727,673 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,251,000 after buying an additional 112,644 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company's stock worth $382,131,000 after acquiring an additional 443,501 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,232,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,227,000 after purchasing an additional 81,541 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Avantor by 3.4% in the fourth 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. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock remained flat at $11.36 during midday trading on Monday. 24,848,596 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,354,856. The company's fifty day moving average is $13.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.98. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $27.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 75,000 shares of company stock worth $928,000 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.