Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Sixteen brokers rate Avantor a consensus "Hold" (3 sell, 10 hold, 3 buy) with an average 12‑month target of $11.70.
• Avantor slightly beat the latest quarter (EPS $0.22 vs $0.21 est.; revenue $1.66B vs $1.64B) but revenue was down 1.4% YoY and management set FY2026 guidance of $0.77–$0.83 EPS—below the sell‑side average forecast of $1.06.
• Insider buying: Two directors purchased a total of 225,000 shares recently (275,000 shares bought by insiders in the last three months, ~$2.4M), while institutional investors own about 95% of the stock.

Shares of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.70.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AVTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Avantor from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Evercore set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays set a $7.00 price target on Avantor in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Avantor in a research report on Thursday, February 12th.

Avantor Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:AVTR opened at $8.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.53, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.00. Avantor has a 1-year low of $7.26 and a 1-year high of $16.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business's fifty day moving average price is $8.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.90.

Avantor (NYSE:AVTR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. Avantor had a positive return on equity of 10.45% and a negative net margin of 8.09%.Avantor's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Avantor has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.770-0.830 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sanjeev K. Mehra bought 125,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.01 per share, with a total value of $1,001,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 475,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,804,750. This trade represents a 35.71% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Summe bought 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.40 per share, for a total transaction of $940,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,760,000. The trade was a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 275,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,399,250 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,077 shares of the company's stock worth $23,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,617 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth about $228,528,000. Sector Gamma AS boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 477,104 shares of the company's stock worth $5,954,000 after acquiring an additional 104,466 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Avantor by 1,333.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 246,494 shares of the company's stock worth $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 229,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avantor during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,248,000. 95.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Avantor

Avantor, Inc NYSE: AVTR is a global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. The company delivers essential solutions that support research, development, production and safety applications. Its product portfolio spans from high-purity chemicals and reagents to biologics and cell culture media, as well as lab equipment, consumables and custom manufacturing services.

Avantor's offerings are organized across two primary segments.

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