Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) is Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s 10th Largest Position

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,145,825 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,473,395 shares during the period. Avantor makes up 3.3% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 1.20% of Avantor worth $171,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,936,879 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,232,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,227,000 after purchasing an additional 81,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,397,000 after purchasing an additional 848,814 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $15.15 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average is $21.00. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.93 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $0.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.