Captrust Financial Advisors Cuts Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Captrust Financial Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,871 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Avantor were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth 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 position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth 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 position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% during the fourth 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR opened at $13.48 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a market cap of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $14.67 and a 200-day moving average of $18.46.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,000. This represents a 100.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AVTR. Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

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.