Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $4.38 Million in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 207,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,377,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted 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 purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Avantor by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 138,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Avantor Stock Down 6.6 %

NYSE:AVTR opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.15 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (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 posted $0.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

About Avantor

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.