1,570,550 Shares in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,570,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,091,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.23% of Avantor at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,666,000 after buying an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Avantor by 653.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354,678 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 557.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,963,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Avantor by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company's stock worth $67,996,000 after buying an additional 1,562,018 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reissued 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.50.

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Avantor Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AVTR opened at $15.83 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.12. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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