Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Cuts Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ trimmed its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 673,411 shares of the company's stock after selling 123,457 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.10% of Avantor worth $14,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Avantor by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 717,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,123,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. grew its stake in Avantor by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 805,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 48,626 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 12,221 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Avantor by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 16,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 77,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Avantor Trading Down 1.9 %

AVTR traded down $0.33 on Wednesday, reaching $16.68. 5,614,688 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,638,873. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $15.37 and a one year high of $28.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.88. The company has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AVTR. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor 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 firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, 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. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avantor Company 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.