MQS Management LLC Makes New $423,000 Investment in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 19,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 11,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 186,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,955,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 2.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 1.0% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 91,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Avantor by 1.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 71,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup downgraded Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR opened at $27.70 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.92 and a 200-day moving average of $24.35. The company has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.59. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.