Boston Partners Decreases Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Boston Partners lowered its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 66.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,422,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,704,887 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Avantor were worth $135,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 653.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 557.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,950,000 after acquiring an additional 3,963,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $33,091,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AVTR. Citigroup cut their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $17.04 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.31 and a 200 day moving average of $21.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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.