Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 18,480 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 273,368 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,480 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company's stock worth $578,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $457,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 7.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company's stock worth $287,791,000 after purchasing an additional 739,667 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,397,000 after purchasing an additional 848,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 653.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,740,000 after purchasing an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AVTR shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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 represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 value 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. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $16.17. 3,793,955 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,316,537. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.37 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The company has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

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, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.