USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 88,903 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

USS Investment Management Ltd cut its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,079 shares of the company's stock after selling 88,903 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Avantor were worth $3,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $13.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,256,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,918,242. The business's 50 day moving average is $14.22 and its 200 day moving average is $18.08. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.82 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVTR. Barclays cut their target price 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. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.65 per share, for a total transaction of $253,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 70,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $885,500. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro bought 8,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.