Lazard Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,175,509 shares of the company's stock after selling 648,238 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Avantor worth $24,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company's stock worth $1,347,843,000 after buying an additional 1,211,418 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Avantor by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,251,000 after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $382,131,000 after acquiring an additional 443,501 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In related news, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 35,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Trading Down 1.2%

AVTR traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $13.25. 2,112,755 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,773,079. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.56. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.82 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reissued 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. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.88.

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.