American Trust Boosts Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

American Trust raised its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,426 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,165 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Avantor were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the second quarter worth about $783,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Avantor by 4,489.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 6,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Avantor during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,502,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Avantor by 128.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 820,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,385,000 after purchasing an additional 460,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor in the second quarter worth approximately $1,018,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup cut Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Avantor Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AVTR opened at $25.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a PE ratio of 65.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.79 and its 200 day moving average is $24.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.59. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued 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 business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.40%. Sell-side analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.