Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys New Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 46,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $751,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 121.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Avantor by 52.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Up 1.1%

AVTR opened at $13.61 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.02. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.04. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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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