Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 144,144 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 15.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 791,374 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144,144 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $16,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Avantor by 146.1% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 217,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 129,010 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,976,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,789,000 after acquiring an additional 463,662 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $789,000 after acquiring an additional 5,864 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,455,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,863,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,385,000 after acquiring an additional 746,624 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total transaction of $88,336.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,372.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of AVTR opened at $26.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.27. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.63 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 68.92, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 5.28%. On average, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.40.

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.