Northern Trust Corp Buys 127,561 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its ownership in Avantor, Inc. by 2.1%, acquiring an additional 127,561 shares, bringing their total to 6,298,195 shares valued at $102 million.
• Several large investors, including Vanguard Group and Invesco Ltd., also raised their stakes in Avantor during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Avantor missed analysts' earnings expectations for the last quarter, reporting $0.24 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.25, despite slightly beating revenue forecasts.

Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,298,195 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 127,561 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.92% of Avantor worth $102,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,869 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 7,048 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 85.5% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,135 shares of the company's stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 5,133 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 33.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,746 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 7,227 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 121.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Finally, Manhattan West Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter worth about $1,534,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.48. The stock had a trading volume of 8,423,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,110,482. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $27.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.96. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.25.

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

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.