Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,292,214 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 264,578 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $53,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new position in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 121.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Avantor by 52.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Avantor by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 1st quarter valued at about $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Down 0.5%

AVTR stock opened at $12.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.82 and a 12-month high of $27.83. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.19 and its 200 day moving average is $14.79.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.50 per share, with a total value of $375,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,250,000. This trade represents a 42.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total transaction of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at $627,224.52. This trade represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AVTR. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $23.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Avantor from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen cut Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 target price on Avantor and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

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.