South Dakota Investment Council Purchases New Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AVTR. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 156,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 7,771 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its position in Avantor by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 18,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 857,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,068,000 after purchasing an additional 147,202 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 504.8% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 6,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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 nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.92.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $17.31 on Monday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.14 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.96 and its 200 day moving average is $22.93. The stock has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.