Korea Investment CORP Cuts Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Korea Investment CORP cut its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 417,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 111,200 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Avantor were worth $8,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 106.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.24 on Tuesday. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.37 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

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.