Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Acquired by Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 40.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,826 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,826 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,969,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211,418 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 30,528,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $643,227,000 after acquiring an additional 8,936,879 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 58.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Avantor by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,232,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,227,000 after acquiring an additional 81,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its stake in Avantor by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,397,000 after purchasing an additional 848,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at $711,788.12. This trade represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’s 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 $65,877.74. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AVTR. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVTR opened at $15.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.04. The company has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.23. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.93 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00. 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 (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current 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.