Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires 12,285 Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,667 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,285 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Avantor were worth $1,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in 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 last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake 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 worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 121.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Avantor by 52.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Avantor during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph R. Massaro acquired 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.30 per share, for a total transaction of $99,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,967.40. The trade was a 30.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.65 per share, with a total value of $253,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 70,000 shares in the company, valued at $885,500. The trade was a 40.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVTR has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley cut Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock opened at $13.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.45. Avantor, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.82 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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

About Avantor

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.