Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,927,325 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,463,695 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 3.38% of Avantor worth $486,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVTR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,976,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,789,000 after acquiring an additional 463,662 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 5,864 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,455,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,476,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,701,000 after purchasing an additional 11,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Avantor by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 10,370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 2.4 %

AVTR stock opened at $27.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.03, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.32. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.35. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.63 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the company’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 directly owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.40.

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.