Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) Trading 5.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) traded up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Raymond James Financial raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $16.00. Raymond James Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Avantor traded as high as $14.66 and last traded at $14.67. 5,831,620 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 10,600,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.87.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Stifel Nicolaus set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Avantor from $18.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Avantor from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Avantor in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avantor

In other news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.39, for a total value of $39,591.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 55,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $627,224.52. The trade was a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avantor

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Avantor by 288.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Avantor in the first quarter valued at $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Avantor by 119.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Avantor in the second quarter valued at $32,000. 95.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avantor Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.00 and a 200 day moving average of $13.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 10.31% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Avantor, Inc. will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.