Korea Investment CORP Trims Stake in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP has reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 37.5% during the first quarter, now holding 260,786 shares valued at $4,227,000 after selling 156,500 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and American Century Companies Inc., have increased their positions in Avantor during the same period, indicating a mixed outlook among investors.
• Avantor's stock currently holds a consensus average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $15.50, reflecting cautious sentiment after a report of $0.24 earnings per share for its latest quarter, missing analyst expectations.

Korea Investment CORP decreased its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 37.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 260,786 shares of the company's stock after selling 156,500 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Avantor were worth $4,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Avantor by 2.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,298,195 shares of the company's stock worth $102,094,000 after buying an additional 127,561 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 32.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,327,507 shares of the company's stock worth $37,729,000 after buying an additional 567,704 shares in the last quarter. S Bank Fund Management Ltd purchased a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth approximately $80,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Avantor by 2.9% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 213,230 shares of the company's stock worth $3,456,000 after buying an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC lifted its position in Avantor by 17.9% during the first quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 65,620 shares of the company's stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 9,952 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AVTR shares. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 target price (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Up 2.0%

AVTR traded up $0.27 on Friday, hitting $13.48. 8,423,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,110,482. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.82 and a twelve month high of $27.83. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.25.

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

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.