Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $25.82 Million Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,225,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,362 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $25,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $16.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.21. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.37 and a 52 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor 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.