Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 572,358 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 57.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 415,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 572,358 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Avantor worth $8,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Avantor by 99.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 106.3% during 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 during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% in 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. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 25,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.00 per share, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000. The trade was a 100.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Avantor Stock Down 6.8%

Shares of AVTR opened at $12.56 on Thursday. Avantor, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.82 and a 12 month high of $28.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.59 and its 200-day moving average is $18.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.88.

Avantor 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.