Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Stake Boosted by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,678 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 69.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 2.4 %

Avantor stock opened at $15.50 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.37 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.52.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on AVTR. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.