American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 170,496 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,759,803 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170,496 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $37,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AVTR. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased 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 valued at $3,980,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased 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 valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Avantor by 6.9% in 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. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.5% during the fourth 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 lifted 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 purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, 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 transaction of $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction 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 approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avantor Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $16.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.37 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

About Avantor

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.