Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Purchased by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,232,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,541 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 1.65% of Avantor worth $236,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,397,000 after acquiring an additional 848,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $142,512,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’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 value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:AVTR opened at $15.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. 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 1 year low of $14.93 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.78 and a 200-day moving average of $21.00.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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 lowered their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

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.