Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys 81,671 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 945.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,310 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 81,671 shares during the quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 24,363 shares of the company's stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth $1,368,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Avantor by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 66,068 shares of the company's stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $393,000. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 3,722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Avantor from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Avantor from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Avantor Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE AVTR traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $12.65. 2,152,962 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,839,251. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.59 and a 200-day moving average of $18.42. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.82 and a 12 month high of $28.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

About Avantor

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.