Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Purchased by Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 41.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,936,879 shares during the period. Avantor makes up about 2.2% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned about 4.49% of Avantor worth $643,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth 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 period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Avantor 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 $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. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $15.74. The stock had a trading volume of 5,134,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,500,726. The firm has a market cap of $10.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $18.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.17. 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 fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.