California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• CalPERS increased its stake in Avantor by 24.9% in the first quarter, buying an additional 230,183 shares and bringing its holding to 1,155,532 shares worth about $9.1 million.
• Several Avantor directors bought shares in May, including Gregory T. Lucier and Simon Dingemans, signaling insider confidence in the stock.
• Analysts remain cautious overall: the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce,” though Citigroup raised its price target to $11 and Avantor recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 24.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,155,532 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 230,183 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Avantor worth $9,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 119.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 60.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,200. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.14 per share, with a total value of $203,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avantor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Avantor to an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.62.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $11.47 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $7.26 and a one year high of $15.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.76. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of -14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.41.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Profile

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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