William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 116,501 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,748,915 shares of the company's stock after selling 116,501 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.70% of Avantor worth $100,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Avantor by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 18.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,615 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 7.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company's stock worth $287,791,000 after acquiring an additional 739,667 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company's stock worth $160,397,000 after acquiring an additional 848,814 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 653.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company's stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Avantor Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE:AVTR traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.61. 11,571,838 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,759,339. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.81. The firm has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week 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.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.50.

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.