Avantor’s (AVTR) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $12.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $15.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AVTR. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Avantor from $20.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $12.00 price objective on Avantor in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Avantor from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Avantor from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 price objective (down previously from $14.00) on shares of Avantor in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Avantor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.42.

Avantor Price Performance

AVTR stock opened at $11.82 on Thursday. Avantor has a 52-week low of $10.82 and a 52-week high of $23.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.98.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). Avantor had a positive return on equity of 10.91% and a negative net margin of 1.25%.The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Avantor’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Avantor has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.880-0.920 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Avantor will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Steven W. Eck sold 3,476 shares of Avantor 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 55,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,224.52. This trade represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares of Avantor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,125,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,375,000. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVTR. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 288.4% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the first quarter worth about $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avantor by 119.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avantor during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.