B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Lowers Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG decreased its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,249 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,606 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Avantor were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Trading Down 2.6 %

AVTR stock opened at $15.79 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.16 and its 200 day moving average is $21.20. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVTR. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

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.