Avantor, Inc. $AVTR Shares Sold by Clarkston Capital Partners LLC

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 42.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,629,389 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,475,676 shares during the quarter. Avantor accounts for about 5.2% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $67,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at about $268,584,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,188,000 after buying an additional 11,216,565 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,322,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Avantor by 122.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,495,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,884,000 after buying an additional 4,119,522 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,490,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,500. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.32 per share, with a total value of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 60,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,200. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Trading Up 3.5%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $11.34 on Friday. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.26 and a 52 week high of $15.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.64 and its 200-day moving average is $9.40. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative net margin of 8.42% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. Avantor’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research downgraded Avantor to an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group set a $8.00 target price on Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore set a $10.50 target price on Avantor in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avantor from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus 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.