Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 188,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,874,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Avantor by 1,634.9% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 8,530,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,839,000 after purchasing an additional 8,038,451 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 147,220.3% in the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,720,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,828,000 after buying an additional 4,716,940 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the second quarter worth about $76,412,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Avantor by 6.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 22,927,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,059,000 after buying an additional 1,463,695 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter worth about $35,154,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 3.6 %

AVTR stock opened at $22.43 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.33.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.72 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,372.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup downgraded Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.79.

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.