Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Stake Raised by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 43.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,145,825 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,473,395 shares during the period. Avantor makes up about 3.3% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $171,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Avantor by 34.1% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,972,000 after purchasing an additional 88,205 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of Avantor by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,228,000 after buying an additional 493,408 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at about $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Avantor by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after acquiring an additional 33,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,792,000 after acquiring an additional 74,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $15.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $14.93 and a one year high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVTR. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently 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.