Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,100,882 shares of the company's stock after selling 106,859 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of Avantor worth $23,196,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Avantor by 58.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock worth $578,666,000 after buying an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 739,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its stake in Avantor by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company's stock worth $160,397,000 after buying an additional 848,814 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Avantor Trading Down 1.9 %

Avantor stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.93. 2,313,222 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,089,006. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.87. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.67 and a 12-month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Company 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.