Andra AP fonden Buys 110,664 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Andra AP fonden lifted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,202 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 110,664 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Avantor were worth $6,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $17.54 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.37 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVTR. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

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.