Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $25.27 Million Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,199,260 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 209,021 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.18% of Avantor worth $25,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $15.50 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Avantor Stock Down 1.2%

AVTR stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.70. 6,740,431 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,911,944. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.82 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Avantor's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $600,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 53,100 shares of company stock worth $652,630. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.