Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 45,531 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,544,434 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,531 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $25,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 99,145,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,089,001,000 after purchasing an additional 30,727,673 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 41.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,936,879 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at about $142,512,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,158,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,963,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,145,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.05. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.72.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a net margin of 10.70% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 35,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,967.40. This represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 83,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,027,630 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.14.

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.