Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 112,644 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Avantor were worth $443,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 50,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,980 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Avantor by 7.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Avantor during the third quarter valued at about $2,586,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new stake in Avantor in the third quarter worth about $21,365,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 146.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,996,000 after buying an additional 1,562,018 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $15.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.80 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share 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.