Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,427,894 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,317 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $30,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Avantor by 26.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 3,733 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Avantor by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 50,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 10,980 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,022,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,442,000 after acquiring an additional 165,565 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 146,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 7.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $14.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.15 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.74. The firm has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current 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.