Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 16,201 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 17.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 109,340 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,201 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $2,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CKW Financial Group increased its holdings in Avantor by 116.7% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVTR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Morgan Stanley lowered 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, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.92.

Avantor Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $16.71 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.51 and a 200-day moving average of $22.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.41 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its 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 return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value 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. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.