California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,071,768 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,085 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Avantor worth $22,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVTR. Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $13.22. The company had a trading volume of 8,770,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,118. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $14.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $11.82 and a one year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. 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.