Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lowered its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,347,873 shares of the company’s stock after selling 328,211 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.49% of Avantor worth $50,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Optas LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 9.1% during the third quarter. Optas LLC now owns 15,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,141,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,182,000 after purchasing an additional 117,633 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 60.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 906,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,636,000 after purchasing an additional 341,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 40,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 8,935 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE AVTR traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.54. The company had a trading volume of 6,819,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,681,926. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $15.70 and its 200 day moving average is $11.42. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.26 and a fifty-two week high of $17.45. The company has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a P/E/G ratio of 7.06 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Avantor in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Avantor from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $13.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Avantor has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.77.

Avantor Profile

Avantor, Inc. is a global provider of products and services used in life sciences, advanced technology and applied materials. Its customers include biopharmaceutical and healthcare companies, laboratories, universities and manufacturers. The company supplies chemicals, reagents, laboratory consumables and equipment, as well as materials used in biopharmaceutical production. Avantor also provides services such as procurement, inventory management and support for laboratory and production operations.