MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 197,327 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stock position in Avantor, Inc. by 51.4%, owning approximately $9.42 million worth of shares.
• Several institutional investors also made significant changes to their positions, with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. growing its holdings by 288.4% during the same period.
• Research firms lowered their price targets on Avantor, with the consensus target price currently at $15.50 and eight analysts rating the stock as a Hold.

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 51.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 580,957 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 197,327 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Avantor worth $9,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 288.4% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at $80,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 target price on Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.50.

Avantor Trading Up 2.0%

AVTR traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $13.48. 8,423,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,535,568. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $13.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.16. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.82 and a 1-year high of $27.83.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm'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 firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Avantor

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.