Wealthfront Advisers LLC Sells 9,087 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 78.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,087 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $54,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th 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 acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 transaction 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 trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of AVTR opened at $17.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.88. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.37 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (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 period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.