Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 4,509 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 12.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,701 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,509 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Avantor were worth $514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 121.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Avantor by 52.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Avantor by 19.8% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Avantor by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVTR shares. Cowen cut shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen cut 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $14.00 price target on shares of Avantor and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Avantor Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $13.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.86. Avantor, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.82 and a 1 year high of $27.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). Avantor had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 10.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,250,000. The trade was a 42.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.