Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires 1,171,976 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 27.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,418,922 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,171,976 shares during the quarter. Avantor comprises approximately 0.7% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Avantor were worth $123,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Avantor by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its stake in Avantor by 565.5% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the last quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Avantor during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Down 0.1 %

AVTR traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $24.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,246,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,531,912. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.30. Avantor, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $26.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.36.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.02. Avantor had a return on equity of 13.01% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Insider Transactions at Avantor

In other news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Company 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.