Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stock Position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 249,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,126 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $5,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVTR. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Avantor by 84.8% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,165,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,612,000 after acquiring an additional 534,901 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 2,283,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,430,000 after buying an additional 342,452 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Avantor by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,508,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,269,000 after purchasing an additional 194,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Avantor by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,129,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,049,000 after buying an additional 342,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Avantor by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 658,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,883,000 after purchasing an additional 74,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Up 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $25.66 on Wednesday. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.63 and a 52-week high of $26.16. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.55. The firm has a market cap of $17.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. Avantor had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 14.11%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

About Avantor

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.