Boston Partners Sells 12,704,887 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Boston Partners lowered its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 66.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,422,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,704,887 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.94% of Avantor worth $135,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at about $696,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 717,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,123,000 after acquiring an additional 185,364 shares in the last quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. now owns 805,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,975,000 after acquiring an additional 48,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 33,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 12,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 3.2 %

Avantor stock opened at $17.04 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The firm has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.88.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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. Analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% 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.