Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $25.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on AVTR. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Avantor Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:AVTR opened at $16.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30. Avantor has a 52-week low of $15.37 and a 52-week high of $28.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.94.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 10.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $65,877.74. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 87,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Avantor

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Avantor by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Avantor by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 15,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Avantor by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Avantor in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,059,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the 3rd quarter valued at $431,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.