Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 20.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,485 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,417 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 44.9% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after buying an additional 30,727,673 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,843,000 after buying an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,251,000 after buying an additional 112,644 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 18,136,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,131,000 after buying an additional 443,501 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,000. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.68 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.58. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.04. 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.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.88.

Avantor Company Profile

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.