Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 323.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,068 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42,841 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 0.8 %

AVTR stock opened at $15.25 on Tuesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.67 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 company has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.87.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Avantor

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.