Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp significantly increased its stock in Avantor, Inc. by 1,741.4% during the second quarter, totaling 73,141 shares worth approximately $984,000.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Avantor, with Royal Bank of Canada reducing its target from $20.00 to $17.00, while Wells Fargo has set a new target of $16.00.
• Avantor reported quarterly earnings of $0.24 per share, missing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 1.1% decline in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 1,741.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,141 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,169 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Avantor were worth $984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 288.4% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 121.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Finally, S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter worth about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $11.84 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $12.78 and its 200 day moving average is $13.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.98. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $26.59.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on Avantor and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

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.

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