Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,112,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,289,573 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.60% of Avantor worth $86,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avantor by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,232,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,227,000 after buying an additional 81,541 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,785,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,173,000 after buying an additional 317,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,633,000 after buying an additional 2,473,395 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock opened at $15.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. 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 1 year low of $13.80 and a 1 year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AVTR. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’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 $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.