Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 7,936 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 23.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,936 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at $156,455,000. CCLA Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 147,220.3% during the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,720,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,828,000 after purchasing an additional 4,716,940 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at $93,433,000. Avidity Partners Management LP bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,442,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Avantor during the 1st quarter worth about $35,154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Avantor in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.40.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $25.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.32. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.63 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.63 and a 200-day moving average of $24.17.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Avantor 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.