Allstate Corp Invests $428,000 in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 20,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 76.7% in 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. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVTR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.27 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.17.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 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 value 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. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.