Whittier Trust Co. Sells 218,291 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Key Points

• Whittier Trust cut its Avantor stake by 97.5% in Q4, selling 218,291 shares and leaving it with 5,699 shares valued at about $70,000.
• Insiders bought aggressively recently — directors Gregory T. Lucier and Gregory L. Summe bought 50,000 and 100,000 shares respectively, and insiders purchased 275,000 shares (~$2.4M) over the past three months.
• Wall Street consensus is a "Hold" with a $11.70 average price target, while analyst views vary (Barclays $7 underweight to Wells Fargo $14 overweight) and the stock trades around $8.51 amid FY2026 EPS guidance of $0.77–$0.83.

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 97.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,699 shares of the company's stock after selling 218,291 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Avantor were worth $70,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Avantor by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 434.4% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,684 shares of the company's stock worth $180,000 after acquiring an additional 12,749 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the company's stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 4,229 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 45.6% during the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 19,325 shares of the company's stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 100,729 shares of the company's stock worth $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 46,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.16 per share, with a total value of $458,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $458,000. This trade represents a ∞ 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 Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.40 per share, with a total value of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased 275,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,399,250 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AVTR shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Evercore set a $10.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Avantor from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.70.

Avantor Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $8.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of -10.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.00. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.26 and a 52-week high of $16.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.81.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Company 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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