Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 386,397 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,241,975 shares of the company’s stock after selling 386,397 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.33% of Avantor worth $47,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avantor by 69.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. CKW Financial Group lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 116.7% in the fourth quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 5,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 30.8% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 5,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $17.52 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.14 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down previously from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a 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 research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.92.

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.