Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $695,000 in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Avantor by 653.0% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 557.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,950,000 after acquiring an additional 3,963,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Avantor by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,615 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Avantor by 146.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.37 and a twelve month high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.