ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Takes Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 634,474 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,368,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP owned about 0.09% of Avantor as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company's stock.

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Avantor Trading Up 11.6 %

NYSE:AVTR traded up $1.65 on Wednesday, reaching $15.93. 15,171,297 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,742,517. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.80 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.08 and a 200-day moving average of $20.63.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor 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 directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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. 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 note on Monday, February 10th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.50.

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.