Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $443.25 Million Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,037,089 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 112,644 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 3.09% of Avantor worth $443,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company's stock worth $37,228,000 after buying an additional 493,408 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Avantor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company's stock worth $40,504,000 after buying an additional 33,692 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company's stock worth $63,792,000 after buying an additional 74,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 146.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,018 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business'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 $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $15.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,561,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,611,285. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.80 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $16.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side 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.