Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 675,593 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 30.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,566,382 shares of the company's stock after selling 675,593 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Avantor worth $25,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in Avantor by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter worth $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Avantor by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock worth $192,963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock worth $171,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley cut Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.14.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the business'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 acquisition, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,250,000. This trade represents a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $13.72. 9,532,476 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,515,301. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.82 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $13.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.45.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.