Dark Forest Capital Management LP Purchases Shares of 474,414 Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 474,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,058,000. Avantor comprises 1.8% of Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 52.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 10,370 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Avantor by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 173,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Avantor by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 287,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 28,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $10,487,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Performance

AVTR stock opened at $25.67 on Thursday. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.63 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.36. The company has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.81, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Avantor had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Avantor from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $740,372.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.