Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 862,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,204 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.13% of Avantor worth $18,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company's stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $142,512,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,395 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,091,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $67,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,018 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $15.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,149,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,843,794. The firm has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $16.67 and a 200-day moving average of $20.36. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.80 and a 12 month high of $28.00.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents 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.

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.