Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) CAO Steven W. Eck Sells 4,907 Shares of Stock

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $16.71 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.41 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.28. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.69.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Avantor by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after acquiring an additional 30,727,673 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after buying an additional 1,211,418 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,227,000 after buying an additional 8,936,879 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after buying an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,037,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,251,000 after buying an additional 112,644 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% 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.