Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 507,188 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,671 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Avantor worth $11,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT raised its position in shares of Avantor by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,681,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,640,000 after buying an additional 1,159,426 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 139,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,937,000 after purchasing an additional 28,706 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $557,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth $5,065,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.50.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % 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 Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of Avantor stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.15. 24,521,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,633,040. The firm has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, 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. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.93 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $17.78 and its 200 day moving average is $21.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current 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.