Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 94,206 Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Gerald Baker Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 94,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $739,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Avantor by 104.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 104,022 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Avantor by 40.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Avantor by 40.2% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 40,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 11,543 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Avantor during the second quarter worth $232,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Avantor by 214.9% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 124,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 84,679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $11.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.41. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.26 and a 52 week high of $15.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.71 billion, a PE ratio of -13.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Simon Dingemans bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AVTR. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Avantor to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Avantor in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. UBS Group set a $8.00 price target on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.62.

Avantor Profile

Avantor, Inc (NYSE:AVTR) is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor’s offerings are organized across two primary segments.