Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $46.38 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,201,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,929 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $46,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after buying an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Avantor by 58.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Avantor by 18.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 7.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,791,000 after purchasing an additional 739,667 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Down 2.6 %

Avantor stock opened at $15.79 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.20. The stock has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (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 period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the 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 $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor 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 $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Avantor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.50.

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.