New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 27,500 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,403 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Avantor were worth $5,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Avantor by 52.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 137.9% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.14.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $13.99. The stock had a trading volume of 9,787,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,036,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.82 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased 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 owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders bought a total of 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.