Empowered Funds LLC Buys 1,451 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,584 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Avantor by 34.1% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 88,205 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in Avantor by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,228,000 after acquiring an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,473,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 45.8% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 723,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,708,000 after buying an additional 227,200 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Avantor from $27.00 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 target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.92.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $17.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.28. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.14 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.96 and a 200 day moving average of $22.95.

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

Avantor 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.