Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 185,364 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 34.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 185,364 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.11% of Avantor worth $15,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $15.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.62 and its 200 day moving average is $22.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.37 and a 1-year high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. The trade was a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Profile

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.