Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $11.94 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,522,563 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,390 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Avantor worth $11,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $268,584,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 179.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,188,000 after purchasing an additional 11,216,565 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Avantor by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,178,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,348 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,105,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,104,000 after purchasing an additional 84,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avantor by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,606,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,392,000 after buying an additional 1,222,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.62.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans acquired 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at $499,200. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR opened at $11.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.26 and a 12 month high of $15.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.41.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Avantor Company Profile

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.