Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Shares Sold by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS trimmed its position in shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,073 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Avantor were worth $10,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVTR. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Avantor during the 4th quarter worth about $525,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Avantor by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 26,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Avantor by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 628,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,342,000 after buying an additional 104,296 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in shares of Avantor by 565.5% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,131 shares during the period. Finally, Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Avantor by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 14,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avantor Stock Performance

Avantor stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.10. 4,712,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,847,822. The stock has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.93 and its 200 day moving average is $22.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.63 and a 52-week high of $26.16.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Avantor had a return on equity of 14.11% and a net margin of 4.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts predict that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AVTR shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Avantor from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.