Peregrine Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 857,538 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,202 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $18,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 27,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 33,692 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Avantor by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 337,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,108,000 after acquiring an additional 9,813 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Price Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $17.87 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.44 and its 200 day moving average is $23.20. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.83 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 12.24%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.92.

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.