Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 69.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 613,825 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Avantor by 56.3% in 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 acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $13.31 on Wednesday. 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 $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.79.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.