Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Country Trust Bank

Country Trust Bank reduced its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,839,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,299 shares during the period. Avantor accounts for about 1.2% of Country Trust Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Country Trust Bank owned about 0.27% of Avantor worth $47,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Avantor by 2.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 28,561,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $729,298,000 after buying an additional 624,369 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Avantor by 6.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,927,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,059,000 after buying an additional 1,463,695 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Avantor by 14.9% during the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 9,120,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,109,000 after buying an additional 1,180,937 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Avantor by 1,634.9% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,530,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,839,000 after buying an additional 8,038,451 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Avantor by 4.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,099,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,544,000 after buying an additional 297,534 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Trading Down 0.7 %

AVTR opened at $24.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 63.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $25.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.63 and a 12-month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.40%. As a group, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total transaction of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at $740,372.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

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.