Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 2,551 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,210 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,551 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Avantor were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 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 transaction 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. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $16.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.37 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.63.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

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.