Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $25.27 Million Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,199,260 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 209,021 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.18% of Avantor worth $25,268,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,766,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,228,000 after acquiring an additional 493,408 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 1.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,792,000 after acquiring an additional 74,735 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Avantor by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 119,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,509,000 after buying an additional 32,838 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $13.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $14.71 and its 200-day moving average is $18.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. Avantor’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’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 $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $26.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.