Quantitative Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. by 112.8%, owning 79,950 shares valued at approximately $1.30 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors currently hold 95.08% of Avantor's stock, reflecting a strong interest from various large investment firms.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in target price adjustments for Avantor, with JPMorgan lowering it from $17.00 to $14.00 and Goldman Sachs downgrading their rating from "buy" to "neutral."

Quantitative Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 112.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,950 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,377 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in Avantor were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Avantor by 288.4% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Avantor by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new position in Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at about $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $627,224.52. This trade represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avantor Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE AVTR traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.48. 8,423,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,110,482. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.82 and a 12-month high of $27.83. The firm has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.