UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Cuts Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Avantor were worth $274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on AVTR shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $16.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.28. The stock has a market cap of $11.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.