Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Purchased by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC has increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 59.9% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.06% of the company valued at $6.66 million.
• Avantor's most recent earnings report for Q2 showed earnings per share of $0.24, below the consensus estimate of $0.25, with revenue totaling $1.68 billion, slightly above expectations.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in multiple target price adjustments for Avantor, with prices varying from $12.00 to $20.00, reflecting mixed ratings from seven analysts recommending a Buy and eight giving a Hold rating.

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 59.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 412,781 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 154,660 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.06% of Avantor worth $6,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Avantor by 48.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Avantor by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,669,411 shares of the company's stock worth $189,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,273 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Avantor by 483.7% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,823,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,255 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at about $22,033,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 123.8% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,261,119 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,653,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Avantor Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $13.48. 8,423,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,535,568. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.12 and a 200-day moving average of $14.19. The stock has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.82 and a fifty-two week high of $27.83.

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

Avantor Company 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.