Prudential PLC Sells 28,643 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Prudential PLC has reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 51.1%, selling 28,643 shares and now holding 27,425 shares valued at $445,000.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Avantor, with Tidal Investments LLC raising its holdings by 59.6% in the last quarter.
• Avantor recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.24 EPS, slightly below analysts' expectations of $0.25 EPS, with revenue influences showing a 1.1% year-over-year decline.

Prudential PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 51.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,425 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,643 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Avantor were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 213,230 shares of the company's stock worth $3,456,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 65,620 shares of the company's stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 9,952 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,033,000. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 412.5% during the 1st quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 82,000 shares of the company's stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 66,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired 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 $1,250,000. This represents a 42.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avantor Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AVTR traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $12.88. 8,553,961 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,665,575. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.62. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.82 and a 52 week high of $27.83. The company has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $13.00 price target (down previously from $15.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.50.

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.