Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,210 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,551 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Avantor were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted 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 worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.53 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.63. The stock has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.