Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Buys Shares of 19,720 Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

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

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 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%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.04. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $11.82 and a one year high of $28.00. The business's fifty day moving average price is $13.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.02.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AVTR shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.88.

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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