First Bank & Trust Increases Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

First Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,899 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Avantor were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVTR. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Avantor by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 9,866 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 414.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,080 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 3rd quarter worth about $255,000. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its position in shares of Avantor by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 49,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,874,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $17.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.06 and its 200 day moving average is $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.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James restated 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. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.92.

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.