Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Sold by Weiss Asset Management LP

Weiss Asset Management LP lessened its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 30.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 527,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 227,493 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in Avantor were worth $4,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth about $79,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 5,287,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,457,000 after acquiring an additional 46,707 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 473.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 34,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 28,813 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 34.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 9,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 47,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 21,481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Simon Dingemans acquired 25,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $8.00 price objective on Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.62.

Avantor Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AVTR opened at $11.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.26 and a 1-year high of $15.93. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.40.

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

About Avantor

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.