Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $63.79 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,735 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.44% of Avantor worth $63,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avantor Stock Down 6.6 %

AVTR opened at $15.81 on Thursday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.37 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $10.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

About Avantor

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.