Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Grows Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 189.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 203,022 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 132,953 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 2,003.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Avantor by 1,830.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new stake in Avantor in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Avantor by 89.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at $93,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $24.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.63 and a twelve month high of $28.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.35. The firm has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.33.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at $740,372.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Avantor from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

Avantor 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.