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

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 32,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $695,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Avantor by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,972,000 after buying an additional 88,205 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Avantor by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,228,000 after buying an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Avantor by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after buying an additional 33,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Avantor by 45.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’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 $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AVTR. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Up 8.5 %

AVTR stock opened at $17.54 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. 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 (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.