William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $22.35 Million Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 0.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,054,083 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,351 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $22,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at $156,455,000. CCLA Investment Management raised its position in shares of Avantor by 147,220.3% in the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 4,720,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,828,000 after purchasing an additional 4,716,940 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,433,000. Avidity Partners Management LP bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,442,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the first quarter valued at about $35,154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 1.5 %

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.40.

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.