Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Sold by UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC

Key Points

• UBS AM decreased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. by 23.4%, selling over 2 million shares during the 1st quarter, leaving them with 6.58 million shares valued at approximately $106.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have shifted their stakes in Avantor, including Rise Advisors LLC and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co., indicating increasing interest from other major players.
• Avantor's stock has a current consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $15.50, following recent adjustments by various analysts.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC decreased its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 23.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,583,468 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,013,564 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.97% of Avantor worth $106,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Avantor by 288.4% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 52.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Avantor from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on Avantor and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.47 during trading on Thursday, reaching $12.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,925,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,686,283. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $12.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.84. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.82 and a fifty-two week high of $27.83.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%.The company's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,224.52. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.