Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,241,975 shares of the company's stock after selling 386,397 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.33% of Avantor worth $47,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of 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. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 337,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,108,000 after acquiring an additional 9,813 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 55,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVTR has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.92.

Avantor Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:AVTR traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.31. 6,547,947 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,617,735. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.01. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.14 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.28.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS 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.