USS Investment Management Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 144,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 88,903 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Avantor were worth $3,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in Avantor by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company's stock worth $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Avantor by 48.3% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,963,000 after buying an additional 2,983,439 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock worth $171,633,000 after buying an additional 2,473,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

AVTR stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $13.03. The stock had a trading volume of 5,747,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,924,677. The firm has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50 day moving average is $14.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.12. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.88.

Avantor Company 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.