Close Asset Management Ltd Sells 4,624,400 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Close Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 99.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,624,400 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Avantor were worth $175,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 119.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Avantor during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Avantor by 172.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,346 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Avantor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 100,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra acquired 350,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.09 per share, for a total transaction of $3,881,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,881,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 500,000 shares of company stock worth $5,279,500. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on Avantor in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Avantor from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore set a $10.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.83.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $9.02 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a one year low of $8.80 and a one year high of $18.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.02 and its 200 day moving average is $12.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a negative net margin of 8.09% and a positive return on equity of 10.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 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.