Broyhill Asset Management Acquires Shares of 215,297 Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Broyhill Asset Management acquired a new position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 215,297 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,536,000. Avantor comprises about 4.0% of Broyhill Asset Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company's stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Avantor by 99.5% in 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 period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Avantor by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 138,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,917,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $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 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.82.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,421,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,938,271. The business's fifty day moving average is $16.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.15. The stock has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.80 and a 1 year high of $28.00. 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 (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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.