Short Interest in Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Decreases By 5.8%

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,600,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the March 31st total of 29,290,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Avantor Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE AVTR opened at $24.42 on Thursday. Avantor has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $26.16. The firm has a market cap of $16.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.60, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.61. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.69.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Avantor from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Avantor from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Avantor from $22.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Avantor from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Avantor from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.71.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 6,203 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $151,911.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 101,143 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,992.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the first quarter worth about $351,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Avantor by 42.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 309,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,911,000 after acquiring an additional 92,098 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Avantor by 12.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 8,812 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $908,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,233,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.