Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its Avantor stake by 597.7% in Q1, ending with 424,817 shares worth about $3.33 million. Several other large institutional investors also recently added to or initiated positions in the company.
• Avantor insiders were also buying: Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares, and Director Gregory T. Lucier bought 10,000 shares. Insider ownership remains low at 0.28% of shares outstanding.
• The company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $0.17 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion, while analysts remain cautious overall. The stock opened at $11.06, and the consensus analyst rating is currently “Reduce” with a target price of $10.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 597.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 424,817 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 363,931 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.06% of Avantor worth $3,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth about $268,584,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Avantor by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,188,000 after buying an additional 11,216,565 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth about $73,322,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 122.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,495,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,884,000 after acquiring an additional 4,119,522 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,490,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased 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 approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock opened at $11.06 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.41. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of -13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $7.26 and a one year high of $15.93. 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 (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Avantor to an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Avantor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $10.62.

Avantor Profile

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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