Dodge & Cox Increases Position in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox increased its position in Avantor, Inc. by 1.1%, owning over 100 million shares worth approximately $1.63 billion.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and T. Rowe Price, also raised their stakes in Avantor during the first quarter.
• Analysts have expressed skepticism, with firms such as Wells Fargo and Evercore ISI lowering their target prices for Avantor, now averaging around $15.50.

Dodge & Cox raised its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,262,723 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,116,953 shares during the quarter. Dodge & Cox owned 14.71% of Avantor worth $1,625,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,952,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,052,887,000 after purchasing an additional 983,172 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 1.5% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,969,199 shares of the company's stock worth $680,321,000 after acquiring an additional 608,806 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth 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 period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 89.8% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 18,127,204 shares of the company's stock worth $293,842,000 after acquiring an additional 8,578,493 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 19.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,669,411 shares of the company's stock worth $189,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,273 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. This represents 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 this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $13.2550 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.48. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $10.82 and a one year high of $27.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Avantor's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

About Avantor

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AVTR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.