Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Gerald Baker Financial Group initiated a new position in Avantor during the first quarter, buying 94,206 shares valued at about $739,000.
• Avantor continues to draw institutional interest, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 95.08% of the stock; several firms, including Royal Bank of Canada and Arrowstreet Capital, also increased their holdings.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.17 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion, but Wall Street remains cautious, with a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.62.

Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 94,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $739,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 104.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 104,022 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Avantor by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 40,289 shares of the company's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,543 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Avantor by 214.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 124,076 shares of the company's stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 84,679 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $11.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of -13.94, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.34 and a 200 day moving average of $9.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.26 and a 12 month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (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 positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Avantor to an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $10.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

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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