AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 5,606 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

AQR Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 213,989 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,606 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Avantor were worth $4,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Performance

NYSE AVTR opened at $12.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.82 and a fifty-two week high of $28.00.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. Avantor’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AVTR. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen lowered Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $711,788.12. This represents a 10.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $300,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $600,000. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.