Amundi Raises Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,752,769 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,781 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Avantor were worth $38,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased 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 worth $3,980,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased 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 valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $15.81 on Thursday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.16.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.