Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Price Target to $22.00

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

AVTR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Avantor from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (down previously from $29.00) on shares of Avantor in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Avantor in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Avantor from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avantor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.82.

Avantor Stock Down 1.1 %

Avantor stock opened at $15.09 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.24. Avantor has a 1-year low of $13.80 and a 1-year high of $28.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.11.

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 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 4,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $86,019.71. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 40,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $711,788.12. The trade was a 10.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,531,753.87. This represents a 4.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Avantor by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 106.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Avantor by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Avantor by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

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.