Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,650 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Avantor were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Avantor by 34.1% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 346,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 88,205 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 493,408 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,922,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,504,000 after buying an additional 33,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,792,000 after buying an additional 74,735 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the 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 $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor 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 $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Avantor Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $15.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.04. The stock has a market cap of $10.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.93 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.