Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 380,623 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. by 53% in Q1, acquiring an additional 380,623 shares to own a total of 1,098,352 shares valued at approximately $17.8 million.
• Avantor reported $1.68 billion in revenue for the quarter, slightly exceeding analysts' expectations, but its earnings per share of $0.24 fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.25.
• Recent analyst ratings for Avantor indicate a shift, with several firms lowering price targets, leading to an average price target of $15.50 and a consensus "Hold" rating for the stock.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 53.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,098,352 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 380,623 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.16% of Avantor worth $17,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Avantor by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,952,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,052,887,000 after acquiring an additional 983,172 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock worth $443,251,000 after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Avantor by 2.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,232,884 shares of the company's stock worth $149,667,000 after acquiring an additional 363,981 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at $627,224.52. This trade represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 target price on shares of Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Down 1.4%

AVTR traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,414,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,663,998. The company has a market capitalization of $8.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.96. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $10.82 and a one year high of $27.83. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $13.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.