Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Acquires 61,158 Shares of Avantor, Inc. $AVTR

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 328,626 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,158 shares during the period. Lightrock Netherlands B.V.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $2,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter valued at $268,584,000. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 20,500,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189,083 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 179.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,468,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $200,188,000 after purchasing an additional 11,216,565 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Avantor by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,178,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,348 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,105,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,104,000 after purchasing an additional 84,740 shares during the period. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $11.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.41. Avantor, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.26 and a 1-year high of $15.93. The company has a market cap of $7.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.94, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Avantor, Inc. will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, Director Simon Dingemans bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.14 per share, for a total transaction of $203,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at $203,500. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory T. Lucier purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.32 per share, for a total transaction of $83,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,200. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore set a $10.50 target price on Avantor in a report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group set a $8.00 price objective on Avantor in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Avantor from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.62.

About Avantor

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.