Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 761,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,491 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $16,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Avantor by 44.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after buying an additional 30,727,673 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,251,000 after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,131,000 after acquiring an additional 443,501 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVTR shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 4.3%

AVTR stock opened at $13.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.59. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current 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.