River Global Investors LLP Makes New Investment in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

River Global Investors LLP acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 52,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,115,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Avantor by 58.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,710,000 after buying an additional 2,719,615 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,791,000 after buying an additional 739,667 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its position in shares of Avantor by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,397,000 after buying an additional 848,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Avantor by 653.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 8.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $17.54 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.37. The company has a market cap of $11.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) 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 return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.