North Star Asset Management Inc. Buys New Holdings in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• North Star Asset Management initiated a position in Avantor, buying 138,877 shares valued at approximately $1.38 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 95.08% of the company.
• Avantor exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.21 versus a $0.19 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.69 billion, up slightly year over year. The company reaffirmed fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $0.80–$0.83.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly cautious: Avantor has an average “Hold” rating and an average price target of $12.00, below its recent trading price of $14.59.

North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 138,877 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,375,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the second quarter worth about $695,784,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,584,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $195,386,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Avantor by 179.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company's stock worth $200,188,000 after acquiring an additional 11,216,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,795,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Up 0.6%

Avantor stock opened at $14.59 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.37, a P/E/G ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $7.26 and a one year high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.92% and a negative net margin of 8.81%.The business's revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.800-0.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $8.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avantor from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Avantor from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Avantor from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.00.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc NYSE: AVTR is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments.

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