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

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.50.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 target price (down from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Avantor from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Avantor from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Avantor from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Avantor Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $17.28 on Tuesday. Avantor has a 1 year low of $15.37 and a 1 year high of $28.00. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $19.92 and its 200-day moving average is $22.27. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.01. Avantor had a net margin of 10.49% and a return on equity of 12.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James Bramwell sold 3,758 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This trade represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $86,019.71. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 188,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Avantor by 2.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Avantor by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 99,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,103,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

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.