Norris Perne & French LLP MI Decreases Stake in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 4.6% in Q2, selling 44,330 shares and owning 912,295 shares valued at approximately $12.3 million.
• Analyst ratings for Avantor show a mixed outlook, with an average price target of $15.50, as Barclays downgraded their target from $15.00 to $13.00 and others have set similar lower targets.
• In recent insider activity, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares at an average price of $11.39, leading to a 5.94% decrease in his position.

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 912,295 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,330 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI owned about 0.13% of Avantor worth $12,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 288.4% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Avantor by 121.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $13.00 price objective (down from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $627,224.52. This trade represents 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 insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $11.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.98. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.82 and a 12 month high of $26.59. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $12.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). The firm 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%.Avantor'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 business earned $0.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

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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