B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 7,606 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,249 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,606 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Avantor were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Avantor by 34.1% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,972,000 after purchasing an additional 88,205 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,228,000 after acquiring an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at about $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Avantor by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after acquiring an additional 33,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Avantor by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,792,000 after purchasing an additional 74,735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Down 2.6 %

AVTR opened at $15.79 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.37 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 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.