APG Asset Management N.V. Raises Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 382.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 414,458 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 328,602 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of Avantor worth $8,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company's stock worth $2,103,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Avantor Trading Down 0.8 %

Avantor stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,355,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,872,747. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.80 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.33. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.08.

Insider Activity

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor 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 $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.