VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 56,900 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lowered its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 137,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Avantor were worth $2,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor in the second quarter valued at approximately $695,784,000. Engine Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Avantor by 65.8% in the first quarter. Engine Capital Management LP now owns 19,780,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,082,000 after purchasing an additional 7,853,018 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor during the second quarter valued at approximately $195,386,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,894,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,443,000 after purchasing an additional 2,288,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Avantor in the second quarter worth about $108,795,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $15.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a PEG ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.95. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.26 and a 1-year high of $17.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 9.79%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.77.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc is a global provider of mission-critical products and services used in the life sciences, healthcare, education, and advanced technology industries. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables, equipment, and other materials used in research, development, manufacturing, and quality-control activities.

Avantor also provides specialized solutions for biopharmaceutical production, including materials and services that support drug development, biologics manufacturing, and other bioprocessing applications.