Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Purchased by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,891,475 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 640,881 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.72% of Avantor worth $103,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company's stock worth $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company's stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in Avantor by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 138,465 shares of the company's stock worth $2,917,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

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Avantor Stock Performance

AVTR traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $15.21. The stock had a trading volume of 2,918,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,618,956. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.70 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company's 50-day moving average price is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.96.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company'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 owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents 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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Avantor 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.