Sei Investments Co. Purchases 285,704 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,454,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 285,704 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.21% of Avantor worth $30,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Avantor by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. This 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 link. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 1.0 %

AVTR stock opened at $16.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.37 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.57. The company has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

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 net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avantor 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.