Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVTR. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Avantor by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after acquiring an additional 30,727,673 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Avantor by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,983,439 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.88.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Avantor
Avantor Stock Performance
AVTR traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.55. The company had a trading volume of 12,777,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,347,582. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.82. The company has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.04. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00.
Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Avantor Profile
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Free Report)
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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