Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,700 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Avantor were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Avantor Price Performance

Avantor stock opened at $17.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.88.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.