Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,544,434 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 45,531 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Avantor worth $25,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Avantor by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. American Trust grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. American Trust now owns 15,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 82,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,767,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 9.0% during the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,673 shares of the company's stock worth $173,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $13.88. 6,225,578 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,407,448. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.13 and a 200-day moving average of $16.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.05. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.82 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share 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 company 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 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.