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

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR – Get Rating) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.33.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AVTR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Avantor in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Avantor from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Avantor from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, February 6th.

Avantor Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Avantor stock opened at $21.14 on Friday. Avantor has a 1 year low of $17.91 and a 1 year high of $35.22. The firm has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.03.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.02. Avantor had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 22.06%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other Avantor news, EVP Christophe Couturier sold 3,078 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total transaction of $74,610.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,287,528.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christophe Couturier sold 3,078 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.24, for a total value of $74,610.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 94,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,287,528.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gerard Brophy sold 3,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $97,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,715 shares in the company, valued at $2,717,875. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,331 shares of company stock valued at $456,616. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVTR. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 76,325,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,609,713,000 after purchasing an additional 18,711,696 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avantor by 135.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,956,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,155,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727,841 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Avantor in the 4th quarter worth about $118,879,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Avantor by 9,969.7% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,954,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,104,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eminence Capital LP bought a new position in Avantor in the 3rd quarter worth about $92,405,000. Institutional investors own 88.80% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Company Profile

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Avantor, Inc engages in providing mission critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, and advanced technologies and applied materials industries. It sells materials, equipment, instrumentation, and offers specialty procurement. The firm operates through the following segments: the Americas, Europe, and AMEA.