Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 147,657 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,799 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $3,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,228,000 after buying an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Avantor by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after acquiring an additional 33,692 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,792,000 after acquiring an additional 74,735 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 146.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,996,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,018 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $12.03 on Friday. 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 $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.95.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVTR. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.