US Bancorp DE Cuts Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 52.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,613 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Avantor were worth $126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $16.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.01.

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

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.