Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 30.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure 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 0.23% of Avantor worth $25,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,613,000. New South Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,784,651 shares of the company's stock worth $28,929,000 after buying an additional 470,472 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC bought a new position in Avantor in the 1st quarter worth $345,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Avantor by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 955,136 shares of the company's stock worth $15,483,000 after buying an additional 97,598 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Avantor by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 343,022 shares of the company's stock worth $5,560,000 after buying an additional 5,671 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 35,038 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Avantor stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.60. The stock had a trading volume of 9,934,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,535,376. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $13.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.35. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.82 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.14.

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.