240,400 Shares in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,065,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,710,000 after buying an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,791,000 after buying an additional 739,667 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,397,000 after buying an additional 848,814 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Avantor by 653.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Down 1.0 %

AVTR stock opened at $16.33 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.57. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. 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 fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup decreased 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, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the company’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 $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.