TD Asset Management Inc Cuts Holdings in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• TD Asset Management cut its Avantor stake by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, while other institutional investors showed mixed activity; overall, hedge funds and institutions still own about 95.08% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with multiple firms holding or downgrading the stock; Avantor now carries an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.57.
• Despite the cautious outlook, insiders have been buying shares recently, including directors Gregory T. Lucier and Sanjeev K. Mehra, while Avantor’s latest quarterly results slightly beat expectations on EPS and revenue.

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,292,088 shares of the company's stock after selling 170,996 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.34% of Avantor worth $26,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,077 shares of the company's stock worth $23,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,617 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Avantor by 1,333.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 246,494 shares of the company's stock worth $3,076,000 after buying an additional 229,293 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in Avantor by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company's stock worth $234,937,000 after buying an additional 2,189,083 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in Avantor during the third quarter worth approximately $159,669,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Avantor by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,053,368 shares of the company's stock worth $200,346,000 after buying an additional 119,508 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Robert W. Baird set a $11.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wolfe Research lowered Avantor to an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $10.50 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $10.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,200. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra acquired 125,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.01 per share, with a total value of $1,001,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 475,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,804,750. This trade represents a 35.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 160,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,287,950. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avantor Stock Up 0.1%

Avantor stock opened at $9.17 on Monday. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.26 and a twelve month high of $15.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.31, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Avantor Profile

Avantor, Inc NYSE: AVTR is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments.

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