Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,763,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,512,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Avantor by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Avantor by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Trading Up 0.3 %

AVTR stock opened at $16.24 on Tuesday. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $15.37 and a one year high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.28. 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 (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.