Boston Partners Cuts Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Boston Partners significantly reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 99.2%, leaving them with just 51,472 shares valued at $834,000 after selling over 6 million shares.
• Several hedge funds increased their positions in Avantor, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its holdings by 121.6% during the same period.
• Avantor's stock price has recently trended down, trading at $12.88, with a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" and a price target averaging around $15.50.

Boston Partners lowered its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 99.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,472 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,370,996 shares during the period. Boston Partners' holdings in Avantor were worth $834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthquest Corp bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 121.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 52.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Avantor in the first quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 19.8% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR traded up $0.7150 on Friday, reaching $13.2750. 4,823,292 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,597,589. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $13.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.82 and a 52-week high of $27.83. The stock has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.