Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Lowers Stake in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,144,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,980 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.17% of Avantor worth $29,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $250,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 60.2% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 28,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $730,000 after purchasing an additional 10,727 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avantor by 45.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 22,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,000 after purchasing an additional 7,120 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,242,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AVTR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.57.

Avantor Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE AVTR opened at $20.74 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.00. Avantor, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.11 and a 52 week high of $28.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.09, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.35.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.06, for a total value of $88,336.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $740,372.64. This represents a 10.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.