Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,498,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,687 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $31,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $578,666,000 after purchasing an additional 8,206,695 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Avantor by 653.0% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 557.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,675,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,950,000 after acquiring an additional 3,963,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 18.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,615 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avantor by 146.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,628,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE:AVTR opened at $18.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.28. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.19 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.44.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 4.54%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. 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. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.15.

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.