Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 507,188 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,671 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $11,036,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 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 value 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 approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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 equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Avantor stock opened at $16.24 on Tuesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.37 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.28.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal 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.