Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 69.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 274,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 613,825 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 106.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 2.4%

AVTR stock opened at $13.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James restated 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. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.