Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,411 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,453 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Avantor by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,368,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,206,695 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 17,692,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,150,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,791,000 after acquiring an additional 739,667 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG grew its holdings in Avantor by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 7,612,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,397,000 after acquiring an additional 848,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Avantor by 653.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,174,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,740,000 after acquiring an additional 5,354,678 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Up 3.3 %

Avantor stock opened at $16.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Avantor, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.37 and a 12-month high of $28.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $19.51 and its 200 day moving average is $22.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Avantor Company 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.