Arizona State Retirement System Has $4.16 Million Stock Holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,461 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Avantor were worth $4,161,000 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $695,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,027,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,792,000 after buying an additional 74,735 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 97.9% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 142,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,002,000 after buying an additional 70,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Trading Up 8.5 %

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $17.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.35. 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 results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVTR. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.