Citigroup Inc. Purchases 1,250,859 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 123.8% in Q1, acquiring over 1.25 million shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 2.26 million shares valued at $36.65 million.
• Analysts have given Avantor a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $15.50, with several firms lowering their previous price targets recently.
• Avantor reported earnings of $0.24 per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, and its revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same period last year.

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 123.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,261,119 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,250,859 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Avantor worth $36,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company's stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.91. 8,953,000 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,965,157. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.79. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $27.83.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Avantor had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen cut shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.