LPL Financial LLC Has $3.39 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. by 50.1% during the first quarter, totaling $3.39 million worth of shares.
• Avantor reported $1.68 billion in revenue for the last quarter, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, but earnings per share of $0.24 fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.25.
• Recent analyst ratings for Avantor have been mixed, with price targets ranging from $12.00 to $16.00 and a consensus hold rating on the stock.

LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 50.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 209,166 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,772 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Avantor were worth $3,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 381,280 shares of the company's stock worth $6,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,036 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,466,232 shares of the company's stock worth $56,188,000 after purchasing an additional 52,179 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Avantor by 33.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,746 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 7,227 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at $671,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $12.91 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.82 and a 12-month high of $27.83. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.46 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $13.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.79.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

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.

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