DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Reduces Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 36.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 400,736 shares of the company's stock after selling 227,346 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.06% of Avantor worth $6,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,001,000 after buying an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 48.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock worth $192,963,000 after buying an additional 2,983,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock worth $171,633,000 after buying an additional 2,473,395 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.60. The company had a trading volume of 9,934,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,535,376. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50-day moving average is $13.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 11.93%. Avantor's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.14.

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.