Strs Ohio Takes $1.34 Million Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 58,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,342,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVTR. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Avantor by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. CKW Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Park Place Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Avantor by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $151,911.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,992.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Avantor Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $24.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a PE ratio of 50.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $26.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.96 and its 200-day moving average is $22.51.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. Avantor had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current 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.