73,659 Shares in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Acquired by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 73,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,552,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew 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. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avantor Stock Down 2.0 %

AVTR stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.03. The company had a trading volume of 10,442,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,571,205. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.92.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.