Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 56,390 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,522,563 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,390 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $11,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 119.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avantor by 60.9% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on Avantor in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Avantor from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $499,200. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Simon Dingemans purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,500. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avantor Stock Up 1.0%

AVTR stock opened at $11.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.41. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.94. Avantor, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.26 and a twelve month high of $15.93.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 9.95% and a negative net margin of 8.42%.The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avantor Company 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.