MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 339,198 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 2,791.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 351,348 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 339,198 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Avantor worth $9,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2,003.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 1,830.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 69.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Avantor by 89.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The trade was a 10.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group cut their target price on Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.57.

Avantor Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of AVTR stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.06. 3,337,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,492,497. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $23.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.54. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.59 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.35.

Avantor 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.