Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Short Interest Up 25.0% in May

Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,740,000 shares, a growth of 25.0% from the May 15th total of 27,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVTR shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Avantor from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Avantor from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. TD Cowen downgraded Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.50 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Avantor from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cowen downgraded Avantor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avantor news, Director Joseph R. Massaro purchased 8,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.30 per share, with a total value of $99,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,038 shares in the company, valued at $430,967.40. This trade represents a 30.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $375,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,250,000. This trade represents a 42.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 83,100 shares of company stock worth $1,027,630 in the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avantor

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Avantor by 288.4% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new stake in Avantor in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Avantor by 76.7% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.08% of the company’s stock.

Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR stock opened at $13.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.04. Avantor has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $28.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Avantor had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

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.