Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P reduced its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 601,069 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148,644 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Avantor were worth $12,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 34.1% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,972,000 after purchasing an additional 88,205 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in Avantor by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,228,000 after purchasing an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after buying an additional 33,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Avantor by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 723,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,708,000 after buying an additional 227,200 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AVTR. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $16.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.37 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.42.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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.