Corient Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stake in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC slashed its Avantor stake by 82.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 2.88 million shares and leaving it with 624,623 shares worth about $7.16 million.
• Despite the selloff, institutional ownership remains high at 95.08%, and several other funds increased positions, including Natixis Advisors, Quantbot Technologies, and Greenhaven Associates.
• Avantor beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.17 versus $0.16 expected and revenue of $1.58 billion versus $1.54 billion expected, while shares rose 4.0% to $10.07; analysts currently have a consensus rating of “Reduce.”

Corient Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 82.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 624,623 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,881,330 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned 0.09% of Avantor worth $7,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 124.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,077 shares of the company's stock worth $23,800,000 after buying an additional 1,058,617 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1,333.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 246,494 shares of the company's stock worth $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 229,293 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company's stock worth $234,937,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189,083 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth about $159,669,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 285,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 129,480 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of AVTR opened at $10.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.44, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.26 and a 1-year high of $15.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.67 and a 200 day moving average of $9.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on Avantor in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Avantor from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Avantor in a report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.47.

About Avantor

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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